Going Under
by Dresner1817
Summary: Another Tour has past and the Hex Girls are returning home, But on their way they meet a gang of bikers and find themselves in the middle of a street war between the Bikers, street gangs, and a shadowy corporation... Who is the familiar leader of this gang? Who's the Corporation? Who's the ghost girl? Will the girls survive this war? Sequel to Door to Deliverance, R
1. Chapter 1: Saints

_**Hello all my wonderful fans of mine, The Hex girls, and the DP universe :) It's your friend Dresner1817 bringing you yet another story with Karl Dael!**_

_**"Going Under" takes place a month after "Door to Deliverance" in my Timeline. I hope you all enjoy another story of mine and please please please! R&R F&F.**_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing But Karl Dael. Any references to the "Gigagen" company belongs to Grumpydrawer and any vague reference to the Hex girls past goes to HiddenWitch 890 (Her version of the Hex Girls past is the 100% best and I recommend you check out her work and Grumpydrawers work as well) **_

_**With Love ~Dresner**_

* * *

Dusk laid in bed trying to sleep off a massive head ache she had been nursing for the last few days since herself and her sisters landed in Atlanta international just a few days ago after their "Darkness Falls" Tour, A tour crossing through the Middle East to South Africa, and began the long trip home back to Crystal Cove for a brief vacation from the life in the industry. The mix of jet lag, shots of bourbon, and Thorn's nagging kept the tough and irritable drummer that she was just made her headache worse as every bump on the patchy interstates of Birmingham, Alabama, passed by.

For the last few years, Dusk, 22, fought a losing battle with herself since the emission three years ago today in her new home of Crystal Cove. She couldn't, or rather refused, to remember that day...

Why would she? Besides to remember the last time she saw... Him...

Three years ago, Dusk attempted to leave the Hex Girls after an argument escalated into a fist fight with her sister, Thorn, lead to Dusk disappearing from the scene for awhile until she met a rather kind and somewhat appealing figure named Karl Dael. He was 23 at the time, Dusk was 19, but even though he was fours years her senior he was a nice and kind man who would stood by her through everything, even through the darkness of the unknown and fighting the unknown to protect her. Dusk wasn't always so attached to a guy before, her streaks of partying, cold and frightening exterior, and inability to admit human weakness to anyone in the fear of people thinking that she was weak really took the wind out of Dusk's dating sails... But her one fear, throughout her life, was that no one would love her, That she would be along forever.

But Karl was different and she knew this by the way he carried himself and on the count of him letting her, a complete stranger before the realization of when they actually met, sat in his home for the next few days until her sisters found her. In those few days Karl and Dusk learned a lot about one another and eventually the seeds of their relationship bloomed into a beautiful flower of love and devotion for one another. Karl soon became their roadie and things seemed to have turned out well for the feisty drummer and her lover, and that her fears of being alone had disappeared forever. Then they met Claudia Marlin, Thorn's mother, in Virginia and she soon sent her and her sisters on a journey to what seemed to be to the gates of hell itself...

Karl saved the girls that day and, to her knowledge at the time, gave up his life to save them.

But he came back sometime later when that... Thing... Blackened out the sky and ripped open the ground so that his minions could harvest the human race to feed his hunger... All was lost... Then he came like a guard angel clad in a black coat banishing a large sliver pistol with blueish teal fire burning from his hands and eyes. She knew that it was him, that the figure was Karl Dael without a shred of doubt in her mind and she was right. In the destroyed remains of their tour bus, they gave each other one last meaningful kiss before they rushed off to the Inn.

The emission that took place just a few minutes afterword ripped her good fortune to piece as she awoke in her bed wondering if it was all a dream... The cap on her shelf says other wise. If it was any other guy, Dusk would have simply forgot about him and tossed the old ratty cap away. But the black heart of the drum melts into goo when even the slightest memory crosses her mind or just a tiny whiff of the scent of the musty cap ran though her cute little nose. She didn't know what to think of the world anymore... The witch's ghost, Cyrus Amsel, and the dog things in Crystal Cove broke all her notions of what was real, or possible, and what wasn't.

But if Karl crossed through hell to get back to her... Then he would come back to her and she would be waiting for him...

The roar of obnoxious motorcycle engines threw Dusk out of her bed with blood shot eyes as she looked out of her window to see an a group of twelve in a formation of some kind beside the tour bus. They didn't appear to be the standard biker type, old men of about 40 or 60 with long grey beards and big bellies, but were instead young men of around their 20's or early 30's with either goat-T's or clean shaven faces and very fit. Their bikes were a mix of custom choppers and cruisers with various custom features to them, but one stood out of the pack...

At the lead was a old black custom BMW R75 motorcycle with off-road style tires, saddle bags, and a custom boxy fuel tank with a Iron Cross with two oak leafs under it on its side. The lead rider turned and looked over brief to the bus and for a moment Dusk thought he was looking at her. The ride's face was covered with a face-mask that just covered the lower half of his face and nose with sunglasses covering his eyes along with a field cap style hat that Karl's use to wear. He wore a pair of finger-less black gloves that drew her eyes to his strong arms and then to the rest of his body. A black flannel with rolled up sleeves covered by a leather vest, Torn blue jeans, and a pair of brown work boots reminded her of Karl...

"Dusk! Checkout the bikers!" Luna shouted from across the bus, interrupting Dusk in her moment.

"I'm already looking at them!" Dusk spat back as she walked to the front of the bus in a pair of short gym shorts and a tank top to see Thorn and Luna gazing out of the bus at the Bikers. They two wore a more lazy attire of sweat pants, short gym shorts, and tank tops with their hair down and casual like hers, "Wow! Look at that one!" Luna said as the bikes popped a wheelie.

"Their showing off for us!" Thorn said cheerfully as James, their driver, grunted in disapproval.

'Wow, look at those two go.' Dusk thought to herself as the two lead bikes drove in front of the tour bus to pop another wheelie. The bike next to the BMW biker was a classic sliver and black chopper with a large rider with a big gut and a clean shaven face. The rider wore a similar attire to what the BMW rider wore but with no gloves and a German style bikers helmet with a spike on top of it.

"Saints of Sonthofen MC," Dusk read out loud, "Trussville, AL. Their a biker gang! Sweet!"

"Aww that's wicked!" Thorn said in amazement as some of the guys started to stand up on their bikes and rode down the highway. The two lead rides braked to give a high five to the crazy riders and soon rejoined formation with their leaders in a moments notice into an arrow like formation in front of the bus. James was cussing and yelling for the guys to move out of his way, but they ignored his horn and sped up down the empty highway.

* * *

_**Meanwhile with the Bikers...**_

* * *

"Good show boys, that will give the Hex girls something to talk about." The lead rider said over an ear piece with joy with a touch of german in his accent.

"Boss, did you know those chicks or something?" One of the Bikers asked him.

"You can say that, but we'll see them soon." The Boss said as he opened the throttle and picked up even more speed as they close in on a convoy of three grey painted 18-Wheelers guarded by Russian GAZ Jeeps with armed guards and a .50cal in the rear.

"Get ready boys. Dark one, what's inside the trucks?" The Boss yelled into the head set to a friend of his.

"Don't call me that!" The voice of a 14 or 15 year old girl shouted back at him.

"Sorry sorry Dani," The boss replied. "I'm trying to make sure that if the Order's pigs are listing in that they don't know our names."

"Whatever!" Dani Phantom spat back as she phased out of the trailer trucks and returned to the boss. Dani was a halfa, a mix between ghost and human, she was a young girl of around 14 or 15 with black hair, or white when she changed into a ghost. She rapped her armed around his waist as she spoke up, "A few crates of AK's, AR's, and hand-grenades of all kinds. Including a few RPG's..."

"Oooh this is going to be a haul for sure!" The other lead said.

"Hell yeah Roddy!" The boss exclaimed, sending Dani out again to over shadow the rear guard GAZ.

Dani flew toward the driver and overshadowed him quickly, In a moments notice she pulled the car over to the side before knocking out the driver and the guards. "One down Boss!" She exclaimed as she flew again to the other GAZ.

"Good! Take the convoy off the Highway toward the Farm. Your doing great!" The boss said confidently over the radio as Dani over shadowed the drive and took them off highway 59 and down Gadsden highway toward the more empty side of Trussville and took the convoy to a barely started gated community, mainly paved roads with empty lots in the middle of the woods, that the Saints of Sonthofen called 'The Farm.' The convoy followed them until they reached the end of the paved road that ended at a collection of nice trailers and a brick home flying a Black, white, and yellow flag and a black and white rebel flag on flag spinners.

The guards didn't know what happen until Dani knocked them out as well and the bikers blind folded the drives of the 18 wheelers. The bikers began to unload the trailers and takeout a few of the brand new AK-12's and AK-74M Assault rifles for a little peep show.

The Boss and Roddy, the man with spiked helmet, stood side by side as their men worked tirelessly to get the trucks emptied before anyone came snooping down their road.

"Damn Boss," Roddy said with an impressed tone. "Even since you took over my club you really changed things for the better. The name is so much better than the Lords of Dixie."

"Rodrick, you give me to much credit." The boss replied as he lowered his face mask and sunglasses to reveal a Goat-T and his green eyes.

"Don't give me that shit Karl." Rodrick replied, punching his brother in the arm. "Cuz of you, we got the guns and the guys to take on those gangbangers in pinson for killing our boys and the town."

"I didn't bail you out of jail so we can start a war with a bunch of Bloods, Crips, and the whole Folk Nation over a dying town." Karl replied as he took out a pack of smokes from his pocket and offered one to his brother. "Besides, I already have a sect of Gigagen after my ass after my little run in with one or their top brass a few years back. I don't need anymore heat."

Roddy laughed, "Didn't stop you from raiding the past three convoys."

"Whatever, Let's go get a couple of drinks in town." Karl said rolling his eyes as the two brothers jumped on their bikes and rode out side by side.

* * *

_**Meanwhile on a UAV feed viewed from Amity Park...**_

* * *

"Target stole another arms convoy Mr. Coelian..." Valerie Grey replied into a radio as she watched the video feed from one of the new drones the Order bought for the Wolf Brigade.

"Ready your battalion for deployment to the Southern United States." Coelian replied coldly. "I want his head on a plate..."


	2. Chapter 2: Raising Hell

_**Thank you for the follows and favs my friends :) After the last few days I've been on my usual time table of writing so I hope you enjoy this chapter :) R&R F&F **_

_**Thank you mattie for the reivew! :D**_

_**With Love ~Dresner**_

* * *

_**Red Dawn Tavern, 10:01pm**_

* * *

Karl and his brother, Rodrick 'Roddy' Dael, arrived at the local tavern near the city limits between Trussville and Birmingham called "_Red Dawn"_ after the movie of the same title. It was a small and relatively unknown place at the time that it was built and rather stayed that way until Pinson became the new ghetto a few years ago. But after Karl bailed his brother out of jail a couple of months ago, the Bar soon became the Saint's favorite bar and hang out.

"Bro, you never told me what happen to you after Wendy split us up." Roddy said as the Dael brothers parked their bikes and walked into the old bar. The bar itself was what anyone would expect a biker bar to be with the dirty floors, standard bar full of bikers of every club you could find, and peach blonde waitresses in leather or short shorts handing out drinks to everyone with a face full of botox and a chest full silicon. Karl wasn't interested in the girls at the bar, still stuck on Dusk like he has been since he first met her, but Roddy was always howling and panting every time he saw one of the "Barbie Dolls", as they called them, walked by.

"Looookkin Goood! Ladies! Lookin good!" Roddy whistled as the girls gave a disgusted look and grown to him.

"Yeah whatever." Roddy replied back arrogantly.

Rodrick "Roddy" Dael, 29, was the older, but immature, brother of Karl. Roddy was the troubled child of the Dael family mainly due to the fact that he was the product of a one night stand with a hair dresser that the Dael's brother father, god rest his soul, met in a bar just like this one 29 years ago. Unknown to their father, Roddy was born and soon lived his life with his mom, Kelly Dyes, and his Step Father. When he was ten, he moved in with the Dael family reluctantly and soon began to get into trouble with the law and his real father. It wasn't until he turned 18 and Karl turned 16 that they moved out of the house after Wendy came into the picture to fuck up everything that the brothers bought a house and moved out to escape the filth that was Wendy...  
After awhile Roddy began to accept Karl and Shelia as his brother and sister, and their Father as His father, But that didn't stop him from getting in trouble with the law since he enjoyed stealing motorcycles and chopping them up for cash. His past soon caught up with him when Wendy put him in jail for five years... Roddy was the opposite of Karl in almost every way besides his love for family. Ultra arrogant, crude, very fowl mouthed, and over all a rouge in every sense of the word, but never the less he was loyal to the club and to his family. He was a bit short compared to his middle brother, with a clean shaved face and a shaved head, but made up for it with his tattooed hairy arms. Roddy looked almost like Karl, but his eyes were blue instead of green and whatever hair he had was blonde like his birth mother's.

"Now that I'm thinkin about it, Why did you bail me out of Jail?" Roddy asked his calmer brother as they sat down at an empty side of the bar.

Karl ordered two beers for him and his brother from the more bikerish bar girl named "Slits", "I told you before, to bring the family back together." Karl replied when the short haired blonde "slits" brought them their drinks.

"Bullshit Karl!" His brother said as he took a swig of his brew. "You payed my bail of 50k like it was a bar tab, speaking of which it's your turn to pick up, picked up the trailers for the farm, and your furnished that house we live in on the farm! Either your selling guns or dope behind my back, or you've got some connections!" Roddy said questionably as he finished his beer.

Karl rolled his eyes, "I'm not repeating myself Roddy, I have my ways and I got you out so we could find Shelia. But that has turned out to be as hopeless as trying to get blood from a turnip." Karl spat. "_Claudia was wrong for once..." _Karl thought to himself as his brother ignored him and continued on with his questions.

"The Cartel? The Red fellas? The Mafia? Don't fuckin tell me its those hood rat bloods, I swear I'll kick your..."

"Will you shut the fuck up and just be glad that I got you out before one of those sodomites started looking at you funny?" Karl asked absurdly.

Roddy looked at him with surprise and slightly pissed that Karl said that to him, but he gave a slight smile and the brothers began to chuckle loudly before giving his brother a bro hug. "It's been to long brother." Roddy remarked, thankful that his brother was back for good.

"Agreed... More beer Slits! It's time to celebrate!" Karl shouted to the bar as everyone cheered, not knowing what they were cheering about.

The butch blonde biker chick growled and fetched more beer for the Dael brothers. An hour past and the brothers drank until a loud 'whooping' came from the door as two large "gangsta" (The modern day crap, not the real Gangster of the 1920's) dressed guys in red entered the bar to ruin their good time.

"Fuck me, It's those punks again." Slits groaned with her pack a day smokers voice.

"The 'We in da bloods' fuckers?" Karl asked her. She nodded and pointed to the Large guy and his skinny friend bouncing around like an idiot.

"The fat guy isn't a problem it's the wigger bouncing around." Slits replied, pointing to the skinny in baggy red cloths and the snap back as he and his friend moved to the two open seats near the Dael brothers.

"Aye hoe, two beers for my boy and me here!" The Skinny guy demanded in his worse ghetto voice, snapping his fingers at slits. Slits was in her forties with short dirty blonde hair and looked about 25 by her figure. She got her nickname from cutting a guys unit off, One reason why no one hit on her or anything and always got the respect she deserved. She wore a bike chick attire with leather short shorts, leather top, and biker boots with the usual selection of flame based tattoos coming from her front and arms. Slits real name was Harley Jackson, but preferred, more or so demanded by her for some reason that the brothers couldn't comprehended.

"You shouldn't have said that white bread." Roddy chuckled as Slits smashed a mug across his face, throwing the punk on the ground.

"Hold up, Hold up, Hold up!" His friend shouted reaching into his belt.

"NO! YOU HOLD UP!" Roddy yelled as he drew his Magnum research BFR .475 snub nosed revolver and shoved it in the face of the wannabe gangbanger. The wannabe grabs his smashed face and looked right at Roddy. "What the FUCK are you looking at?!" Roddy yelled, point his pistol at the man on the floor.

"Nothin dawg! I swear homie!" The skinny guy said throwing his hands in the air. The fat guy pulled a fast one and drew a Glock pistol from his belt, "BACK OFF MY DAWG, DAWG!" The fat one yelled as he cocked his pistol and pointed it at Roddy's head.

"I wouldn't do that with his brother standing right next to him..." Karl said coldly as he placed the Barrel of his Sliver plated C-96 Mauser pistol to the fat mans head. Followed by slits with a sawed off 12 gauge shot gun.

"Why don't you fine gentlemen leave with a smile instead of hollow-points and double ought buckshot, eh?" Karl said with a slight smirk as he cocked the hammer back on his pistol. The fat man in red began to sweat and his beady little eyes began to scan the room as the sight of the large framed revolver drew closer to him as well. No one in the bar gave them a second look and continued drinking, chatting, and smoking let nothing was going on.

"Just apologize to Ms. Slits and be on your way. I don't want anyone's mother crying over their baby dying in another shooting this week." Karl said with compassion. "By god we have seen to many dead souls in Birmingham since you bloods and crips started killing each other downtown. Not to mention the Folk nation either... Now please..." Karl said as he unlocked the hammer of his gun and placed it in a leather shoulder holster. "Make peace for once."

The fat man was frozen in fear and did what Karl said and gave a half heart apologize before dropping his gun to run out of the door, leaving his friend on the floor without a friend in the world. "What do we do with the wigger?" Roddy asked in a disappointed tone as he put away his pistol as the sound of kicking gravel and screeching tires echoed outside.

"Hmmm, Slits?" Karl asked Slits as she put away the sawed off with a wicked smile.

* * *

**_Few minutes later... 11:19pm_**

* * *

Karl and Roddy threw the naked wannabe gang banger out of the bar with hearty chuckles as the kid ran away into the darkness.

"And stay out bitch boy!" Slits yelled through the window as the skinny Wigger ran away screaming like a girl. "Next time I won't be so gentle Sissy boy!"

Karl and Roddy chuckled as they watched Slits harass the kid from the doorway. "The drinks are on me boys." Slits said as she shook their hands with a grin.

"Thanks Ms. Slits." Karl said respectfully as Roddy watched the bar girls walk around in their tight little outfits. "Damn Slits, where do you find these girls?!" Roddy exclaimed with a aroused look on his face as a short peach blonde walks by with a bottle of jack on a tray.

Slits give Roddy a scowl and scratched him across the face with her long finely sharpened nails, "That's my daughter." Replied Slits as she pushed the brothers out of the bar.

"Really Roddy?" Karl asked his brother, talking with his hands.

"Ain't my fault Slits can breed some fine stock!" Roddy replied unabashed of his crude behavior.

Karl rolled his eyes and walked to his bike, "Lets go into town and get something to eat, I'm starving." He told his brother as he started his motorcycle.

The brothers hopped on their bikes and began their way into town toward a BBQ joint in Birmingham. They spoke through the same headsets they used on the raid on the convoy to pass the time as they took the back way threw the back roads toward Irondale. The road was curvy and gave the brothers enough room to hit full speed on their bikes down the two lain roads and let the straight pipes of their motorcycle roar through the woods like unchained beasts.

"So are you going to tell me or what?" Roddy nagged his brother as they thundered past an old ghetto neighborhood.

"AHHUGH! FINE!" Karl said annoyed, final caving to Roddy's incessant nagging. "Me and Jon Tyler went up north to find Shelia, but that turned out to be a failure. We did some work with a few companies till some shit happen, Happy?"

"Woah, easy bro. Your old lady for get to jerk you today or was that on you?" Roddy said sarcastically. "Oh wait, what happen to Sandra by the way? That weird bitch go with you?"

"No she left me, We were all homeless and she didn't dig that. Can you believe that?" Karl replied with a more mellow tone after his brothers crude remark.

"She was a cunt anyways, no big deal. Who you bangin now?" Roddy asked.

"Working on finding a girl I know at the moment." Karl replied as they took another turn at high speed.

"She apart of that company you use to work with? Gigen, Gingan, or something?"

"Gigagen, yes, Her, no. I met her in New York during a snow storm, The company I met a few months or so after some things happen..." Karl replied reluctantly. "Mainly I drifted with a band, traveled, joined the army, joined Gigagen, and then Dani joined me a few days after my defection from Gigagen."

"You met the runt in Gigagen? (Arrogant Chuckle)" Roddy laughed. "What did they do to make her a ghost?"

"They didn't and she was never apart of Gigagen. She's a clone of that Danny Phantom guy if you can believe that." Karl said bluntly.

"Yeah Yeah and the pope shits in the woods!" Roddy replied rudely. "So why did you come back here?"

"I decided to come home..." Karl said ominously as the bright lights of two Oldsmobile shined behind the brothers.

"THERE! DAT BE DEM CRACKAS WHO DISRESPECTED DA BLOODS!" The rabid wails of the wannbe gang banger who the brothers sent running and his friend yelled before the ripple of machine pistols and handguns raked the road as the brothers swerved to avoid being shot from behind.

"Shit! Punch it Karl! Punch it!" Roddy yelled as the brother threw their bikes into overdrive as they whizzed down the back road, jumping over every dip in the road and drifting every corner as bullet sorrowed over their heads as the sounds of sadistic cheers of the gangbangers only made the ride worse.

"These guys are pissing me off!" Roddy shouted as a burst from an Uzi shot over him.

"At least these guys can't hit a dick like you!" Karl shouted jokingly as the hit a curvy in the road.

"Fuck you! At least they know how big I am!" Roddy yelled with a demonic laugh as the lights of the Norfolk & Southern Train yard came into view as the back road elevated to a small hill that over looked the yard. Karl looked over to see spaces between the freight cars just big enough for their motorcycles to fit through. He looked behind himself to see that large bodies of the Bloodmobiles and gave a frightful smile before shouting, "This way!", and jumping his bike from the hill and onto the railway.

Roddy followed his crazy brother in the jump and split up in the yard as the gangbangers screamed down the hill toward the railway crossing to cut them off. "Cut the lights! Cut the lights!" Karl called out as he brought his bike to a sliding halt and cut his engine. "Line 7 near a NS Boxcar! Cut your engine and come to me!"

"I'm not leaving my bike because a bunch of Boyz 'n da Hood want to waste me!" Roddy protested arrogantly.

"Your bike isn't going to mean a damn thing when your six feet under in a pine box!" Karl scolded his brother, "Fuck it! Where are you?!"

"Near the fucking road in a damn ditch! Near the fucking road and the main line!" Roddy replied in an angry whisper as the sound of a thumping bass from a rap song could be heard across the yard. Karl cussed under his breath as the transmission ended and reached into his saddle bag. Feeling around with in the darkness of the bag with his gloved hands he could feel a round egg or can like object at the bottom of the bag. The cold sting of metal graced his hand, as did a small smirk that faded quickly, and his fingers digging into the groves along its body...

"Mk 2 Frags..." Karl said as he pulled a grenade from his bag and retrieved four more. "Sharpshot better have not screwed me on another bargain again..." Karl groaned as he hooked the rusty old frags to his belt, hoping that a former friend of his in Gigagen didn't swindle him again for a quick buck. Drawing his pistol, Karl began running and jumping over the couplings of the train cars and through the woods that separated the yard entrance from the main line where he saw the silhouette of his brothers gut in a drainage ditch. "Coming up from your 8 o'clock Roddy, got a basket of pineapples if things get hairy."

"Where the hell did you get the frags?" His brother ask him as he turned to see Karl sliding down the small elevation with pistol in hand.

"A bastard in the company gave them to me." Karl replied with heavy breaths as he handed Roddy two grenades.

"Same guy who sold out the convoys?" Roddy said as he span the cylinder of his revolver as the bass from the gangsters cars grew louder and louder.

"Yeah and the same fucker who forgot to tell us what were in the last two convoys and we ended up hitting a load full of big ass bones. Next time I see him I'm going to take back my money with interest..." Karl replied with a calculating look on his face as the two red Oldsmobile's crept down the street with one guy each scanning the woods with a large flashlight and a Micro-Uzi or Mac 10 in the other hand. The loud thud of the speakers was a dead give away to how close they were coming to the Brother position.

Karl poked his head out enough so that he could see what window the watcher was using to look out into the hill side near small amount of woods that separated the yard from the line. They used the old large lantern lights with fading bulbs that could only light up a foot, at best, of the treeline which meant that the guy with the light was sitting out of the left window.

Karl was right...

"The gunner is sitting out of the other window..." Karl said, pointing to the cars while laying as low as he could on the ground with his brother right next to him. "Which means his buddy is laying on the other side with the light with the window down..."

"Throw them threw the window and pray that these old shits work, Eh?" Roddy asked as he held one of the old grenades.

"That or we can start counting our prayers or hope that they don't see us..." Karl replied bluntly as he loaded a twenty road magazine into his pistol and turned the selector switch to fully automatic. "I'll hit the car in the rear if you hit the front. If they fail, shoot as many as you can. Life or Death brother."

"The weight of uncertainty is always on our shoulders isn't dear brother?" Roddy said fearfully as his brother crouched slowly to the far side of the ditch with a ominous chuckle as the cars drew closer.

The cars were shaking the from amount of bass coming from their speakers, as was the ground around them. Karl laid in wait with in safety of the shadows with his pistol laying in front of him on a rock and a grenade in his hand. He breathing slowed significantly, heart rate rose, and his vision tunneled as he calculated his assault on the cars. Pulling the pin on the grenade and holding the safety level, Karl took one last calm breath for the adrenaline poured through his veins...

"ANGRIFF!" He yelled, leaping off the ground like a pit viper as he snatched his pistol off of the ground and pumped the gunners with 9mm Hollowpoints. The gangbangers panicked as Roddy fired two rounds into the engine block of the car with his .475 Revolver before throwing his grenades threw the windows of the cars. The Gangsters could react to the grenades as Karl buzzed the windows with his Full-automatic Mauser pistol. Karl threw his threw the windows and fired the last of the magazine into the back windows before diving into the ditch along with Roddy as the hand grenades detonated with in the cars, killing the gangsters instantly with molten shards of metal.

The brothers peaked out of the ditches to see smoke pouring from the windows of cars windows and bullet hollows from Karl's machine pistol. They peered into the bullet rattled cars to see only shreds of remains for what was left of the gangsters. Karl's face was rather indifferent about the carnage in front of him and turned away from it once the iron smell of blood hit his nose, But Roddy gave a smirk and a small chuckle that unnerved the veteran serviceman.

"Looks like jello." Roddy said with a sadistic chuckle as he stuck his head through the window of the first car until the sounds of frightened howls caught his attention.

"We got alive one!" Roddy said with a sadistic smile as he aimed his revolver at the trunk with his finger on the trigger.

"Calm down Roddy!" Karl said urgently as he rushed over to his brother. "Listen..."

The brothers stayed quiet and soon recognized the voice as that of a hippy with the long draws and whining. "A fucking hippy?" Roddy asked as Karl grabbed the Keys from the ignition of the car and unlocked the trunk.

Laying in the trunk was a portly gentleman dressed in cloths that should have stayed in the 1970's with high collared flair orange button up covered by a bright green sports coat that clashed with the purple bell bottoms and platform shoes, as did his purple lends spectacles and his comb over. The man's voice was a jagged mix between English and hippy with his choice of wording and hand jesters.

"Ohhhh Thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU!" The fat man cheered as he fell out of the trunk of the car on to his fat stomach before latching onto the brothers legs and hugging them.

"Easy now friend," Karl said as he picked the large man. "Any wounds? Gun shots? Anything?"

"No, thank the heavens! But those brutes and Mercenaries really shook me to my bones before throwing me in this trunk!" The man replied in a thick English accent.

"Great, a fucking Tommie and a 60's retread at that!" Roddy groaned in disapproval, Roddy hated the counterculture and anything to do with the whole "Flower Power" thing.

The man gave a scowl until Karl pulled him to one side and apologized for Roddy's rude remark, "Sorry about that friend, My dear brother isn't really a fan of anything that has to due with the hippies making his skin crawl and all that. But whatever, whats your name friend?" Karl asked him as he let out his hand in friendship.

"Jasper Ridgeway, Band manager and agent extraordinaire." Jasper said with pride as he shook Karl's hand.

"Karl Dael and that's my brother Rodrick Dael. But just call him Roddy or Rockin Roddy for short." Karl said with a friendly smile. "But I must ask, Mercenaries?"

"Ugh... I don't want to talk about it... Blood sugar is going down the tube ever since those tossers threw me in the back of this damn car!" Jasper replied annoyingly.

Karl rolled his eyes and looked over at Roddy, "Roddy, is your bike in working order?"

"It's fucked." Roddy replied as he pulled a cigarette from his pocket and began to smoke. "What about your bike?"

"No petrol, Sadly." Karl told him. "Think you can liberate a car for us?"

Roddy picked up a rock from the ground and walked toward a line of parked cars searching for a suitable vehicle. While Karl and Jasper sat on a curb waiting for him to bring a car around. Karl offered Jasper a cigarette, but he turned it down in a nice matter before thanking Karl once again.

"You bikers aren't the brutes Hollywood puts you out to be..." Jasper commented as Karl smoked.

"Well the Saints aren't exactly the kind of 1%'ers like The Breed, Hells Angels, Pagans, or Mongols." Karl remarked as he blew his smoke away from Jasper. "We're more like a Paramilitaries on motorcycles who would much rather keep the gangsters out of our home, rather than let them pump drugs and guns into our town. Kind of a civil guard of Ex-Soldiers, Policemen, and Mercs who want to keep the peace rather than break it."

"So your like... Super heroes or something?" Jasper asked unsure of himself and making sure not to piss of Karl.

But Karl chuckled, "No, more or less Saints..." He replied with a slight smirk as he flicked the ashes off his cigarette before turning around to show him the patch on his back. The patch itself consisted of a top and bottom rocker with "Saint's of Sonthofen" on top and "Trussville AL" on the bottom in Gothic lettering signifying the name and origin of the club itself, along with a M.C and 1% patch showing that they were an outlaw motorcycle club. The colors, or symbol, was a black shield out line with white piping with a white outline of the Hagalaz rune, The Nordic rune for destructive weather and protection.

"Your a bloody hero even if you are a biker!" Jasper said shaking his chubby body with glee. "I will treat you boys to the finest meal imaginable! If I can... Well... Find my wallet! Hehe!" Jasper chuckled as looked for his wallet.

"Nah, All is good. We can just go to Waffle House. Cheap food and a calm place to sit down." Karl said as a freight train flew by on the tracks with his horn blaring. The slight crash of a broken window caught the two's attention as Roddy broke the window of a new model red Dodge Charger with a rock. The two walked over to candy red Charger as Roddy unlocked the doors and hot wired the car.

"Damn! Someone is going to be cussing a storm later!" Roddy laughed as he turned on the LED lights of the custom charger and floored it into the night.


	3. Chapter 3: Could it be?

_**Hello once again my friends! Now we're getting to another interesting part in the story where we start the return of the KarlxDusk ship :) But we must have some trials and tribulation...**_

_**We also show a piece where we talk about the Saints of Sonthofen. To those who don't know the Sonthofen I speak of it's a city I made up in Crossing the Rubicon based off of Kolblenz, Germany. **_

_**Enjoy :) R&R F&F**_

_**With Love ~Dresner**_

* * *

_**In the sky above Jasper and The Dael Brothers...**_

* * *

Danielle "Dani" Phantom flew just above the custom charge that her friends, The Dael Brothers, stole only moments ago. She has shadowed the brothers since they got on their bikes and traveled to the bar, mainly to check up on them to make sure that they didn't end up in the back of a squad car like they did on multiple occasions, mostly Roddy.

The little dark one, as Karl refereed to her as, was once a up and coming hero in a large town by the name of Amity Park. That changed as time past on and the "Little Dark One" soon found herself captured by Mercenaries of the Gigagen Corporation and taken to Amity Park as Operation Blue began... (Read Door to Deliverance). The little girl was sentenced to execution by the hands of Karl Dael himself, but the man refused to kill a young girl, or anyone for that matter, in cold blood. Thus began their friendship and soon continued on until the end of there journey. For a month, Dani trained with the people of the Far Frozen and soon became as proficient in the application of her powers as her cousin Danny Phantom rather quickly than the leader of the far frozen, frostbite, had expected.  
Soon she left the realm once the gate to the mortal world was open by Claudia Marlin as she allowed Karl to defect. She followed Karl on his way home to Trussville, but he knew she was there...

His powers, that of the Black Sun and the Thule people, gave him the powers of new man and heighten senses was only one of the many abilities of his over whelming power... He was a man of indomitable will, a Will that seemed to fuel his power to levels that not even the most powerful ghosts in all of the Zone could ever dream of mustering. After all it was he who defeated the ghost king... (Read Door to Deliverance)  
But since he stepped off the train into his home town, Karl refused to use his powers for any reason unless it was for a lighter for his smoking habit. The ghost girl revealed herself to him shortly after released his brother from Jail and soon she found herself aiding in Karl Crusades against, the now hostile, Brimstone Society after Alexander Coelian's take over of the Order itself following Operation Blue. Now she herself was on the run with Karl, helping him fight the inevitability of Coelian finding them.

Their luck seemed to be almost endless, but Dani remembered a lesson from Karl... "Nothing lasts forever and always be ready for the end."

From above them they could see a team of five squad cars rushing through the streets just a block away from the brothers in the stolen Charger. She gave a sign of relief knowing that their luck was still good, or at least for now. Dani never understood why the brothers did what they did or why they killed the way they killed; Calm, swift, and merciless. But she knew they did it in defense, rather than in cold blood like the other gangs in the area. She would always turn way from such acts and Karl made sure that the little dark one never saw anything they did in fear of damaging her already fragile mind and soul...

Staying quiet, Dani flew lower toward the car before phasing through it and hiding in the backseat of the four door sedan as Karl, Roddy, and a large fat man talked to one another...

* * *

_**In the Car...  
**_

* * *

"No fucking way!" Roddy laughed as Jasper told them a story about a concert in Australia, "Your old band showed up with what?"

"Wildwind showed up in these freaky looking version of their old costumes with this crazy looking vampire thing they made with stage equipment and props! It was wild!" Jasper replied as they turned onto the main road and headed toward the mountains. On the left and right were shopping malls, one with the hussle and bussle of a thriving city and the other that was shut down and decaying like the rest of Birmingham, a picture that Karl and Rodrick knew all to well.

"Wow... What a sharp contrast to this town." Jasper commented as the rounded a bend and got a better look at the abandon shopping mall. "Why haven't they torn the shack down? I thought you american's would have the money for all that jazz."

Roddy gave a shrew snicker, something that the fly on the wall that was Dani did not understand at all. After all she was always in Trussville with the Saints or on the highway with Karl and Roddy.

"America is decaying." Karl replied calmly as he threw his cigarette butt out of the window. "Like a dying beast nearing its final days, parasites and disease come in like jackals to take what they can from the dying animal. Once the animal passes away, the parasites die..."

Jasper and Dani looked at Karl strangely as his tone turned dark as he began reminisce and tell his story...

"Birmingham and it's other townships have always had a history of corruption, especially after the introduction of Crack Cocaine in the mid-80's, and the influx of hard drugs into the market has made only two things worth a damn in this city; Drug money and Guns." Karl told them.

"The mayor, the police, the marshals, and, Hell, even the fucking fire department is on the pay role of the Gangs!" Roddy interjected. "The Mafia, both Italian and Russian, are running Heroin through the city, The Folk Nation, Bloods, and Crips are fighting over control of Crack Cocaine trafficking, and then there's us controlling the guns and running private security for the more richer sides of town like Mountain Brook and other elite hotspots."

"Wait Wait Wait! You run guns and security? For the gangs and the Mob!?" Jasper exclaimed to Karl and Roddy's chuckles.

"Nein, Nein, Nein." Karl said calmly in German with a smirk. "We run guns for more civil organizations like PMC's, Vigilante groups, and the Gate-Keepers Paramilitary Organization lead by our old friend Jon Tyler Coombs." Karl said giving his brother a high five. "Since we have a old and close friend running the Gate-Keepers and since Governor Johnathan "Bulldog" Bentley gave J.T.C the green light to clean up they city, we have been accepted into the GK's as Civilian arm." Roddy said confidently.

"In other words, we're a privately funded crew of Ex-Soldiers who ride around on choppers hunting down the bad guys and taking from the rich to fight a war." Karl said bluntly while Roddy chuckled. "Some old robin hood bullshit!" Roddy laughed.

"The rozzers aren't doing a thing about you guys?" Jasper asked fearfully.

"The pigs are just a corrupt as the mayor. The streets are ruled by guns, money, and drugs. The GK's rule by having the most guns and the Saints of Sonthofen! The fuckers wouldn't dare touch us or we'll bring the hammer down on them!" Roddy exclaimed in a thumbing his chest kind of way.

"In other words, No. The GK's are apart of a Government funded program called "The Gate Keepers Initiative", A government initiative that was the brain child of Bulldog Bentley himself after seeing vigilantism at it's finest after a group of twelve crushed a whole cartel meeting when he was the mayor of Huntsville. So the Bulldog gave his plan to the Federal Government for the creation of Vigilante groups, who work under private means with government cash without the bureaucratic bullshit that follows bringing law and order. The motto is simple, "Kill one save a thousand."" Karl explained as they rounded a corner. "To put it into perspective, we are kind of like the hidden hand of this new law. If the GK need someone to take someone out without the media knowing it, they call us. We are off the goverment radar and our pay comes in four parts: Territory, Guns, Cash, and Peace of mind. We get the neighborhoods away from the gang bangers and addicts, we get their guns, we get a cut of the confiscated drug money, and we get to keep the people of our city safe..."

"(Evil Chuckle) And we get to stomp out any OG who stands in our way..." Roddy added in a evil tone.

"Real heroes... Great..." Jasper said as he realized what kind of people the brothers were, or at least thought they were.

Dani rolled her eyes at Jasper's sarcasm and unease, but she could understand why he felt the way he did. Karl and Roddy weren't really the most ideal looking people to be around, or at least Roddy didn't look like the most friendly guy in the world. But the brothers grew on her and Dani began to see them as the father and brother like figures she never had.

* * *

_**Later... 12:28am**_

* * *

The car pulled off the Creastwood blvd and into the parking lot of a near by waffle house were everyone, but Dani, ate a cheap meal before piling back into the car and heading downtown toward UAB and the Hotel Highlands at Five Points near the university where Jasper was staying. The Englishman never did tell the brothers who he was managing only that "Everyone knows them." Which Roddy responded with a simple, "Who the fuck are you talking about?"

Jasper and the Brothers walked through the lobby and into an elevator to the top floor. Soon they reached the penthouse suit where Jasper was staying and escorted him to his room on Jasper's command in fear of another kidnapping. "You two are really top notch fellows, even though you are hired guns out for a chuckle." Jasper said as he turned around to give the brothers two black and purple tickets with the Hex girls logo on it. "Curacy of me, Jasper Ridgesway, The new manager for the Hex Girls."

The brothers looked at each other with opposing expressions, Roddy's being rather overjoyed and Karl's being rather short for words. "Fuckin-A!" Roddy shout in excitement as he put the ticket in his wallet.

The Hex girls are a extremely popular band in the US and soon became a world wide sensation after competing in the Vampire Rock Concert a few years ago, Though they were kidnapped mid show and were disqualified from the competition. They were once a small band out of Oakhaven, a town that soon became known throughout the country for the ghost of Sarah Ravencroft and a massive turkey. Karl knew the girls well as he was their roadie and faithful lover to the Drummer, Muffy "Dusk" St. James. But after the Amsel affair a few years ago, Karl never saw the girls again until saving them on his first mission with the Order just three years before... Was this is chance to see his babygirl, To see the woman he loved without question?

Sure their was the "In the moment" relationship with Ember Mclain, But could he face her again?

Does she remember him?...

That was the only question that plagued his mind, Did she remember after the emission those three years ago? If she did... Does she still love him with the same passion that he loved her? Or has she moved on like he tried...

"Thank you Jasper," Karl said coolly as he took the ticket like nothing happened. "But I think my brother and I better be heading back to our home. The streets are not as friendly at dark as they are in the morning. Have a good night and maybe we will see each other again."

Karl covered his face with the balaclava around his neck and turned on his heel, "But we must talk sometime about your little kidnapping... We could solve it for you, without charge if necessary." Karl said with his head turned toward Jasper before running into some girls in front of him.

"Hey! Watch it fucker!" A hostile, yet familiar voice scolded him. Karl turned toward the voice to see a beautiful pale girl with piecing black eyes dressed in a cyber goth style attire with long blonde hair. Next to her was a black haired girl in a white leather jacket with ruffled hair and skinny jeans tucked into black and red converses. To the far left was a tan girl with orange hair that looked like a weeping willow tree covering one of her brown eyes and wearing a blue button up with waste high white paints and yellow heels.

Eye to eye stood the lovers... One fearful of what she would do and another curious of who was standing before her in the mask and cap.

Dusk was a little angry at the guy who ran into her and why they were standing near their suite, especially since Jasper's long absents she wasn't ready to fool with anyone since the girls just got back from a mix of clubbing and searching for Jasper. But she couldn't help but wonder what these bikers were doing here...

"Hey! Those are the guys on the bikes we saw today!" Luna said warmly, which made Roddy smirk a little.

"I don't give a fuck who they are." Dusk snarled as she pushed Karl aside, not knowing who he was, and grabbed Jasper by the collar. "Where the fuck were you?! We walked all around town looking for you and I almost got jacked by some gangsters on the way back here! WHERE WERE YOU?!" She demanded.

Jasper quivered fearfully and began to beg for her forgiveness when he told her some gangsters and some mercs picked him up when he left the hotel. Before Dusk could say anything else, Karl put his hand on her shoulder and gazed into her eyes before asked what street they were on at the time. Dusk was about to unleash a fury of profanity, but something about the man's green eyes made her feel at ease and stunned with disbelief.

"73rd Street..." She replied calmly before putting Jasper down. "Why?" She asked.

"Roddy, We have some business to attend to..." Karl said as he took Dusk's hand. A long pause set between the two as they both scanned over each other with mixed emotions of confusion and longing. Karl's brow rose when he noticed the black boots with white buckles, the boots he bought for her years ago, with light neon pink and violet stockings leading up to a purple short dress with the same pink strips that formed an infinity symbol at the top near her breasts with a neon green belt around her waste. Around her neck was a black choker, a favorite of Karl's, and a padlock and chain hanging around her neck.

She looked wonderful to him as he groaned quietly, which made the tough rocker girl give a small man eater grin in return, as he undressed her with his mind until the two realized they were holding each other hands. Karl coughed to break the silence, "We'll pay the 73rd street hustlers a visit babygirl, Have a good night..." Karl said in a calm and caring tone that made Dusk quiver until her eyes widen. But the Brother walked off quickly into a near by elevator before Dusk could react...

Luna and Thorn looked at Dusk oddly as the tried to figure out what was wrong with their usually hyper or ill tempered younger sister. "Dusk what's wrong?" Luna asked as she confronted her sister with a worried look on her face.

"Did that biker just call you Babygirl?" Thorn interjected.

Dusk began to break out in tears, her make up smearing as she tried to cover her tears, and ran through the door way pushing Jasper over before running into her room and locking the door...


	4. Chapter 4: Liqure for your thoughts?

_**Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! I had computer issues over the last few days, but I have returned with Chapter 4 and I'm starting on Chapter 5 right now :) I finished three out of six of my classes to graduate and so far I have found a lot of time to write a bit :)**_

_**Thank you for waiting :)**_

_**With love ~Dresner**_

* * *

_**9:23am, Sunday Morning, "The Farm", Trussville...  
**_

* * *

Karl awoke on the floor of his modest basement bedroom with a bottle of _Stolichnaya _in his right hand, along with others rolling around the pallet of blankets he used to make his bed, and his wallet folded out with a picture of him and Dusk just three years before he threw himself and Cyrus Amsel into the portal to The Summerland...

He turned on his back and sat up to see that he was still wearing his jeans and boots, but no shirt and no hat. Looking around on the floor for his black field cap he knocked over a few of the vodka bottles as he staggered to his knees to grab his black field cap sitting on the bathroom floor just a couple of steps away from his pallet. Karl could feel the cotton bill of the cap and placed it on his head with ease as he turned to face the mirror in what little sunlight came through the small window behind him. Only a little bit of light came through the small window, meaning that it was raining outside.

"No wonder I slept so well." Karl said to himself as he moved the dimmer on his bathroom light to low as not to irritate the massive hangover he knew he had, the bottles on the ground spoke for itself. In the mirror he could see his semi built chest with a tattoo of the same Iron cross and Oak leaves over his right peck as a token of his time in the Ghost zone, as well as the Belkin tricolor and confederate "Stars and Bars" tattooed over his heart as a memory of his dead comrades and homeland... Karl then looked at his face to see a thick shade of Five O'clock shadow as well as grey under his eyes from lack of sleep, as well as the tan lines of his sun glasses, edged on to his face. The man in the mirror was a far cry from the lively and younger Karl Dael that Dusk knew... Grizzled, worn, tired, and harden were only a handful of good words Karl could think for himself. Murderer, Gangster, and Tool also to his mind when he saw himself in the mirror.

Karl gave a heavy sigh as he put the bottle of vodka on the counter near the sink and ran his hand across his grizzled face. His fingers ran across ruff facial hair which made him sigh in disappointment, as did his bloodshot eyes from a long night. Karl took his electric razor and began to chip away at the 5'oclock shadow before brushing his teeth of last nights meal and boozing, which he followed up with a quick sip from the bottle of _Stolichnaya _before washing his mouth out with off-brand mouth wash and a quick shower to wash the smell of booze, broads, and blood from his body and hair.

Dani walked through the bedroom door wearing only a tank top and sweat pants carrying a bowl of lucky charms just as Karl stepped into the shower. The little Dark one sat up on the untouched bed and turned on the television sitting on the vanity dresser. Karl's room was of a modest size with a vanity dresser with a TV and DVD player near the door with pictures of his family and himself, but no pictures of Dusk beside the one in his wallet. Another dresser was near the wall to the left with beer steins from all states of Germany on top of it for decoration. Two nightstands with deer antler style appearance sat on the top of each stand, along with a alarm clock and Karl's Sliver plated "Schnellfeuer" Mauser pistol on the right nightstand where his drunken pallet made of jackets, dirty cloths, and the carpet floor rested with empty vodka bottles. Behind the bed was a mural of his father, Theodor Dael, and his uncle, Albert Dael, throughout their careers in the Armies of Germany, Albert's case, and America, Theodor's case, and later together in Korea and southeast Asia together. The two looked like twins almost, but Albert wore a beard like Kurt Knispel, Legendary German tank ace, or "Odd-ball" from Kelly's heroes and missing an eye.  
The original Dael brothers once fought against one another during the second world war, but soon came together after Theodor helped Albert escape from an America interment camp in the Rhineland in 1946. The two soon returned to America with their wives and soon Albert became an American citizen, where he was drafted along with Theodor and fought in Korea in 1950 and later in Vietnam in 1964. They stuck together for years until Albert died to Gang violence in 2003, A shootout between Folk Nation and Bloods at a liqueur store in downtown Birmingham and Albert was caught in the middle of it all and took a .45 slug to the brain..

The mural itself held two crossed flags on poles, a world war one German flag and a confederate flag, with a clean Mauser C-96 and a Colt M1911 at the corners with barrels up toward the flags. A picture of the Senior Dael brothers with their arms around each others shoulders, both dressed in their second world war uniforms, in 1946. On a small brass plaque at the bottom of the photo read,

_Though we may fight on opposing fields_

_Brotherhood and Blood will triumph over all_

A sliding glass door covered with blankets lead out of the room to left where Karl would smoke or shot targets from the hillside porch with any of his rifles he kept in his gun cases underneath the bed. Along with the traditional southern tradition, Karl hung a black confederate flag on his wall as well a the Belkin Tricolor. Besides the bottles on the floor, Karl kept his room rather clean and orderly like a military man, no matter how informal, would. Dani did have her own room, but she preferred to stay in Karl's because of the comfortable bed and view from the small porch. He would really stay in his room unless he was drunk or getting ready to go out for a ride or business, other than that Karl mostly slept on the upstairs couch in the living room.

As she flipped through the channels of the stolen satellite cable until coming across a rather familiar scene on the local news. She turned up the volume and soon Karl appeared from the bathroom with a towel around his waste with the aroma of fine soap fresh in the air. "What's on the talking head?" Karl asked as he walked to his dresser to retrieve some nice clean cloths and dark jeans.

"Your antics last night have made the news." Dani replied calmly as she finished off the milk in the bowl.

Karl turned to her unsurprised, "What have I told you about following me?" He said before rolling his eyes knowing that she wouldn't listen.

"Don't do it." She said before an air head teen girl from HB news began to talk of what happened last night with the bloods and Jasper's kidnapping.

* * *

**_At the_ Hotel-**

_KK: Sup! This is Krissy Kristy here with HB News bring you everything from Hip-hop and Rock to Crime and the SUPERNATURAL! We're live from Birmingham, Alabama! (Cute little impression of a trumpet playing the first few bars of "Dixie" or the General Lee Horn) Rock it in the DEEP SOUTH with the new manger of Hex girls, Jasper Ridgeways! Jasper, Tell us of your epic story of getting jumped and jacked by some hardcore OG's! _

_Jasper: Well I wasn't really jumped by gangsters, more fancy ruddy plod and Ivan the terrible! But that's beside the point. The gangsters threw me in the car boot of their jam-jar until a pare of gun packing chaps in black killed the gangsters and freed me from em! (Grabs microphone) Those chaps are heroes in my view, and if y'r watching this Karl and Rodrick, I want to ta yobs!  
_

_KK: (Annoyed and grabs microphone away from Jasper) Wicked heavy Jasper! Now to Nancy Chang for more details!  
_

* * *

**_At the sight of the Attack-  
_**

_NC:(Wearing a usual business like red suit) Thank you Krissy, This is Nancy Chang for HB News coming to you live from Irondale, Alabama with Sheriff Rufus Buzby of the Alabama state troopers and Delilah Blake of the Gate Keepers.  
_

_Rufus: (Wearing a light blue Alabama state troopers uniform) Thank ya Ms. Chang for taking time out of your day to talk with me and my "associate", Master Sergent Delilah Blake. _

_NC: So tell me what exactly happen?_

_Rufus: (Adjusting his belt) Well I say that..._

_Delilah: (Dressed in Black ACU with a Black beret and a green scarf around her neck.) The suspects were caught on camera during a well executed ambush of the "Blood" gang members. The Gang members were driving down this street with two men armed with Uzi Submachine guns sitting outside of the vehicle looking for the suspects. The suspects then proceeded to attack from two sides with a machine pistol, High caliber pistol, and hand grenades. The Suspects were caught on camera during the attack from across the street on the security camera of the near by Alabama credit union.  
_

_(Black and White scene plays on the TV scene. The two cars are driving slowly. A large muzzle flash appears from the left side behind the rear car, followed by larger muzzle flashes at the lead car. Few seconds pass until flashes of explosions end the tap.) _

_Rufus: The suspects could not be identified due to the lack of adequate light and the low quality of the camera, we have yet to identify the suspects.  
_

_NC: Sheriff Buzby, Some people say it was the Saints of Sonthofen MC or the Gate Keepers. Is the riot on 73rd Street connected to the murders? Is this true?_

_Delilah: That is nothing but hogwash and rumors! The Gate Keepers are the most patriotic branch of the America people, second to the Marine Corps! OOHRA! The Saints do not even operate in this area, this was a gang related event and nothing more. DISMISSED! (Throws a salute followed by a military turn around toward a GK Hummvee and leaving the scene.)_

_Rufus: As I was getting on to, The suspects identities are not know yet. But the best we can say is that they are still on the lose and are HIGHLY dangerous. As for the riot, I have no further comment. Have a nice now, ya hear?  
_

_NC: Thank you for your time Sheriff Buzby. This has been HB news and this is Nancy Chang Sighing off._

* * *

Karl chuckled loudly as he threw on a black T-shirt and dark brown button up, "That marine knows our MO, but not our territory." Karl remarked coolly as he began to ponder why the bloods were in Saints territory. "Those bloods were in our land, They know Irondale and Trussville are ours..."

"You did throw one of their guys out into the street naked." Dani remarked, blunting Karl's point.

"He-He, Yeah true. Eh, I guess I'm being paranoid." Karl replied as he put on a pair of clean brown boots. "But the question remains, Why did they have Jasper? I mean really? He says some merc got him and the only mercs I know that are in the area are Gate Keepers..."

"You think the GK's did it?" Dani asked as Karl finished getting ready and grabbed his Mauser and gun belt/shoulder holster.

"Maybe or maybe not." Karl replied as he grabbed a black sports coat from his closet, as well a few ten round box magazines of hollow point 9mm rounds.

"What about the Brigade?" Dani asked, referring to Karl's old outfit in the Brimstone Society.

"Claudia said that we have immunity, and that came right from the Doctor himself." Karl replied confidently as he took a black Stetson fedora and a Colt .380 pocket pistol from the top self of his closet. "There isn't really anything to worry about, only if Coelian wants the doctor to bring down the hammer of god upon him and his cohorts." He said as he put the pocket pistol in his boot, along with two magazines of .380 ACP in his coat pocket.

"Expecting some trouble?" Dani asked as she looked over the well dressed and cleaned up Karl Dael.

"You never know when it might come up." Karl replied cheekily as he walked toward the door and up the stairs to the living room.

"Don't expect me to bail you out again!" Dani said with an annoyed tone as she followed him to put her dishes away in the kitchen. The kitchen was a basic kitchen with a microwave, toaster, fridge, blender, and a homemade liqueur cabinet filled with all kinds of liqueur, All of which was a mix of stole or bought legally. A few bottles of booze was still on the counter as was a few failed attempts at making pizza and chicken. "Driving your drunk ass home after phasing you two out of a riot wasn't really what I was planning on doing last night." Dani griped as she washed out the bowl.

A crashing sound followed by a few rounds of "Fuck" and "Shit" caught the twos attention as Roddy walked out of the pool room with a black eye and no pants with a half bottle of _Grey Goose_ in his hand. "I made coffee, by the way." Dani told the Drunken Roddy as he walked over to the coffee pot with his Vodka in hand. A few moments of looking at the bottle and then at the coffee pot past until Roddy had the idea to pour the whole pot of coffee into the bottle and shake it up. Dani and Karl looked at each other in disgust before Roddy pounded down at least a quarter of the brew before falling asleep on the floor.

"I'm not leaving you with him today." Karl said was a unsurprised, yet playful tone, and a chuckle. "Go get dressed and we'll head down to the Five points in about twenty or thirty minutes. I got to have my coffee before I go anywhere."

Dani giggled and pranced to her room as Karl stepped into the kitchen to move his brother and make another pot of coffee.

* * *

_**Hour or so Later in Birmingham, near the Five Points Hotel...**_

* * *

Dani and Karl took the back roads to avoid the traffic and roaming bands of gangs that combed the streets since the killing of the bloods gang members just a day ago. The two mostly stayed quiet, mainly because of Karl's constant over thinking and constant running of 'What-If?' scenarios in his mind. Dani on the other hand listened to the radio and sang, rather horribly to Karl's dismay, to pass the time. As they pulled up to the Five Points Karl took a quick drink of scotch from a flask in the glove box to stiffen his nerves, His time with the order and the War in Verusea really took a tole on the young man.

"Stay in the car, Alright?" Karl told Dani as he stepped out of the car.

"WHY!? I WANT TO MEET THE HEX GIRLS!" Dani protested, whining like a little girl.

_"Of course you do, but I want to lay low for awhile until I make sure she remembers me..." _Karl thought to himself as he ignored Dani's pleads and walked into the hotel.


	5. Chapter 5: Lost in the Moment

_**Took me only today to write this since I've been simmering on ideas for the last few days since I didn't have my computer. I hope this makes up for not posting chapter 4 soon enough, so heres Chapter 5 :) Thank you for your Reviews :)**_

_**With Love ~Dresner**_

* * *

Jasper opened the door in surprise to see Karl, but soon after hearing the news report on the Television he ushered him in quickly and closed the blinds and curtains. "I saw us on the telly just a few minutes ago." Jasper replied nervously as he shut the blinds. "I'm going to get whacked, I know it! After what I saw across the way!" Jasper panicked as he sat down on a white leather couch in the living room and buried his face in his hands.

Karl gave an inquiring gaze and sits in the chair across from the portly Englishman in polyester. "Do what?" Karl asked him bluntly, until Jasper pointed to the sliding glass door to the balcony. "Some strange blueish green light caught my eye, near that old factory or whatever down the way."

"Alabama Steel Plant?" Karl said perplexed to Jasper reply as he walked to the window and moved the blind briefly to the side to see the large steel plant in the distance. "The plant has been closed since the 70's after the steel crisis. You must have seen a Demo crew or something..." Karl replied logically, but Jasper protested.

"Yeah, a wreaking crew lugging Kalashnikov's!" Jasper exclaimed, "Fuckin Ivan came knocking on my door asking what I saw that night just a few minutes later and put one of those fancy black rifles in my face! I know what I saw!"

Karl's eyes grew wide as he turned to Jasper, "What were they wearing? Camo's? Black ACU's?" Karl asked him quickly, trying to get an idea of who kidnapped him.

"I don't know really..." Jasper said hesitantly, "It happened all so fast... I mean they knocked down my door, hit me with a Taser, thew a bag over my head, and took me down stairs were I was thrown into a van!"

"Were they smoking in the van? What music was playing? Come on Jasper! I need details!" Karl demanded as he spoke with his hands.

"I DON'T KNOW! Fags (English term for Cigarettes, Get over it.) for all I know! The smoke was harsh, but smooth taste if that helps..." Jasper babbled as he rubbed his face in his hands.

"Stalkers..." Karl said regretfully as he stepped away from the sliding glass door toward his chair. _"Claudia has to know about this..."_ He thought to himself as the thought of Claudia lying to him about their agreement enraged him to the point where he could feel a ferrous flame, both metaphorically and actually, rise through his stomach and throat. But he took a slow breath to ease his vexation and remembered to control his anger, or else his powers would take over him like it did in his time with the Order. Karl preferred not to use his powers, mainly due to the unfair advantage it gave him against his more recent foes and his sportsman like nature of keeping things fair. But also because he saw them as a beast that needed to be tamed, along with his hubris and ego which fueled this beast.

"What?" Jasper asked him curiously, but still confused on what Karl was trying to obtain from him.

"Nothing... Just something I remembered..." Karl studded, trying to blanket his anger with a false display of nervousness. "But whatever, How did the bloods get you?"

Jasper twiddled his thumbs as he removed his face from his palms with an embarrassed expression as he stumbled with his reply, "Well... Uh-um, I kind of... Rolled out of the back of the lorry when the wankers stopped at the local boozer for a few... Ran around like a chicken with my head cut off and then a lot of beastly yobs knocked me out with a boom stick, Lights out for me till you and your brother threw a spanner in the works."

"Wrong place wrong time eh?" Karl said with a chuckle to Jasper's dismay. "Who do you think the Mercs were? Gate-Keepers maybe?" He inquired, already knowing the answer.

"No no, they were a little to ruff." Jasper replied as he thought back to his meeting with the GK Private contractors near a Leeds. "The mercenaries at the shopping center in Leeds were rather kind, but off their trolly when some rival militia came over to tussle."

"Haha, Indeed! It's what the steroids and the big guns do to you." Karl joked. "Their not a bad bunch, just a little ruff around the edges like my boys are when I'm gone. Luckily their ex-soldiers so I don't have to worry about them going off like the GK's or anything on after hours."

Jasper gave a long sigh and excused himself to the kitchen, "Would you like a brew? I have lager with barley, Mild Ale, and stout. Pick your poison, but be warned this is my private stash." Jasper said as he opened a cupboard to a small stash of English beer he ordered especially from England before their journey back to America. "I've never met a beer I wouldn't drink." Karl replied with a smirk, "Lager my friend. The barley is good for your health, you know."

Jasper and Karl shared a laugh as he handed him a beer and the two gave a toast to their health, god knows they need it, before beginning a round of chatting ranging from Soccer to politics, Music to cars, and even on love and war.

"You know Karl, I got to ask." Jasper said as he took a long swig of his drink. "If everyone in your gang was once a solider, did you serve yourself as well?"

Karl gave a grim smirk and began to nod, "I did, But with no army you heard of. That's for true." He said bluntly.

"Sorry if I'm stepping on any toes mate." Jasper stumbled, trying not to cross his new friend.

"No no, your not." Karl said kindly. "I just don't have many people ask me about my service."

"Alright then... So uh... did you ever, you know?" Jasper muddled about unsure of himself.

"Deploy? Yes. Kill anyone?" Karl replied in a grim, yet matter of fact tone that haunted the both of them.

"Heavy..." Jasper replied grimly before tugging at his collar.

"I don't really think this is the appropriate topic to converse about..." Karl said coldly as he stood up to straighten his coat. "My friend, thank you for your time but I must be going..." Karl said before a rustling sound caught his attention. A door near the living room opened slightly revealing only darkness, a sign that someone blacked out the room and was fast asleep. The sound of moving blankets and light breaths could be heard slightly, but thanks to Karl's enhanced hearing he could hear the rustling quite clearly.

"Jasper," Karl asked in a curious tone with a mix of high hopes and caution. "where are the Hex girls?"

"Luna and Thorn are off gallivanting at the Summit Mall, Why?" Jasper asked oddly.

"What about Dusk?" Karl said, his voice giving off a strong mixture of high hopes and nervousness.

"Dead arse asleep in her bed room. The girl cried her eyes out about seeing some lover of hers just after you left, something about someone called clocka or some shit." Jasper replied nonchalantly, waving his free hand with a limp wrist which annoyed Karl.

"Klokateer..." Karl corrected him as he stared at the door as the feeling of anticipation of seeing his beautiful muse laying peacefully at rest on her bed. "Do you... Do you mind if I... Shit..." Karl scolded himself as he studded. "Do you mind if I see her?"

"A fan of the drummer eh?" Jasper said with a chuckle before waving in approval.

Karl gave a tired smirk, "You can say that I knew her in a another time, but yes." Karl told him as he crept quietly toward the door with his heart pounding in his chest like a screaming motor on overdrive, palms sweating, and his vision clouded by visions of love...  
"_Three years and three months..."_ Karl thought to himself as he stood idle with his hand on the door before pushing it gentle to reveal a messy room with black, green, red, and white cloths strewn all over the floor. A queen size bed near a window with a short blonde with covers rapped around her like a cocoon lied peacefully asleep with her arms wrapped around a pillow, cuddling it tightly.

_"Its been to long..."_ Karl whispered as he walked toward the sleeping drummer.

Dusk appeared to be dead asleep to Karl as he looked over her with endearing eyes before siting down on the bed near her. Karl couldn't help but give a loving sigh as he began to stroke her hair as he use to do all those years ago... She rolled over to him with pillow still rapped in her arms, which gave Karl a better look at her cute little nose and pale complexion which shined in the low light that came through the cracks of the currents and blankets that blacked out the room. Karl was living a dream of his almost as he played with her hair with shining eyes...

From the journey across The Summerland, The war in Verusea, and the countless other places he traveled to with the Order, Karl dreamed of just one moment with her... No matter how small it was...

It was she who kept his spirits up, even in the darkest of hours... Now here he was stroking her hair like a princess as she slumbered. Dusk let go of the pillow as tossed and turned before she dropped the pillow off the side of the bed. She groaned and turned before grabbing Karl's waist, which surprised him a little, and cuddled against him. Karl could feel her warmth against him and it made him weak as his dreams became a reality...

He unbutton his sports coat and laid on the bed with his back against the wall with Dusk laying her head on his stomach with her arms around him. Still playing with her hair, Karl could see that she was wearing only a tank top and panties for her sleep attire. But the gentleman side of him refrained him from looking down her shirt, but his wandering eyes couldn't help it as he kissed her forehead with a slight smirk.

That simple kiss final gave him the strength to muster some courage to say something to her... In a heartfelt whisper, Karl final spoke from the heart for the first time in three years...

"Babygirl..." Karl said in a heavy hearted and truthful tone, with a trace of pain as he spoke as he let go of his restraints.  
"It's been so long since we've seen each other... I know you can't hear me, but I want you to know that I'm always here for you. No matter what happens, I'll always watch over you..." Karl said as he began to tear up. "I've been to place and seen things that you wouldn't believe my love... Things so beautiful that they brought me to tears... and others that made me wonder why... Things that even made me want to end it all to end all the suffering... Darling I want you to know that I still care for you and that it was you that kept me alive through out the war, the valor and the horror..." Karl's voice began to tighten as his emotions raced through his body and tears began to slowly build in his eyes. "I have had my weaker moments... I at one point thought all was over, that I would never see you again. But Claudia was wrong..." He said as he rapped his hand around hers.  
"I'm sorry for my lack of forwardness... But I half to be distant, only for a short while though... Things have happened to me in the last few years my dear, Things that I can't talk about... Things that you might hate me for... But they will be solved soon..." Karl said as he carefully pulled Dusk off of him and covered her up lovingly with his coat which she cuddled against her with a smile.

"I'll come back babygirl..." Karl said as he closed with Dusk's face and kissed her on the lips with tears in his eyes that dripped on to hers. "Just wait a little longer..."

Just as quickly as he came in, Karl left the room and out the door... Dusk opened her eyes and began to sob quietly as she rapped herself in his coat, the smell of his cologne, cigarettes, and gun power conjuring up imagines of a different time not to long ago where it was only him and her... She cursed as she cried in his jacket, but her heart took over as she sobbed like a little girl. She listened in on the whole conversation between him and Jasper, but she didn't know what he was talking about. Frankly she didn't care... She only wanted Karl back and the little moment on the bed was the only thing she cared about. Karl loves her and She loves Karl. That was the only thing that mattered...

"It's been to long baby... Please come back..." Dusk muttered quietly as her and Karl's tears poured down her cheek.

* * *

_**In the Car**_

* * *

Dani looked at Karl oddly as he rubbed his eyes and started the car, "Heavy stuff eh?" She asked, but no reply from Karl as they stormed off down the street in silence. "Yo Karl, what happen up there?" Dani asked again.

"Nothing... Just fucking nothing." Karl spat defensively. "I got what I wanted. That's all that matters now."

"You saw her didn't you?" Dani asked light heartily.

The look on Karl's face said it all, as did the red eyes from his tears and the sniffling. Dani leaned over the center console and hugged him while whispering, "It's ok, It's ok."

"I love her to much Danielle..." Karl said as he pulled the car to the side of the road and broke down right then and there.

"I know you do..." Dani said as she tried to comfort him as the once titian like and calm figure she came to know turned... Human... Karl sobbed and cussed at his own weakness, but Dani held his hands down as he let all the pain flow out of him. It has been to long since he let go of the restraints on himself...

Karl needed this...

After a few intense minutes Karl regained his composure and drove back on to the road with a determined look in his eyes... The Colonel had one more objective, one more mission, One last war to finish. With one reward...

To return to his lover, To return to his babygirl...


	6. Chapter 6: Long Tounge Liar

_**Sorry for the Seven day delay, I've been busting my Ass at work hard lately and things are just becoming a little tough. Please forgive me :) I hope everyone is doing alright and I hope you enjoy my work :) **_

_**With Love ~Dresner**_

* * *

Thorn and Luna returned to suite later that day around 11:00pm or so to see that Jasper had gone out to the tour bus with James for a guys night out, leaving the girls alone to do whatever they wanted. Thorn put her Victoria secret and Hot topic bags next to the door to her room while Luna slipped off her high heels boots and turned on the TV to relax. Luna wore a different outfit than before, mainly a purple top with black skinny jeans leading to a pair of high heel boots. Her hair was still the weeping willow with one side covering one of her eyes. Thorn wore a red shirt with a black north face jacket, James's favorite, and a faded pair of blue jeans with black converse. Thorn's hair was rapped in a lazy pony tail, still tinted red like she use to have it when she started the band. She began to grow her hair out again, to James's pleasure, and started acting a little more laid back than she had been for the last few years, maybe it was something or someone she saw a few years ago... Or maybe it was just her growing up a little.

Thorn didn't know and neither did Luna, as far as she could remember. But Dusk knew why (Chapters 1-7 of Crossing the Rubicon)...

Thorn leaped over the couch and landed on Luna as she took off her converse, "Thorn! Get off!" Luna laughed as her sister tired to push her off the couch.

"My couch!" Thorn chuckled as her sister pushed her to the other side before she gave Luna the finger.

"Fuck your couch!" Luna yelled jokingly before they shared a laugh together. "Today was fun!"

"Totally," Thorn said as she propped her feet on Luna's lap. "I'm surprised no one noticed us!"

Luna made a grossed out face and turned her head while grabbing her nose, "Especially with your dumpster toes! Bleh!" Luna jested.

"Whatever! You love them!" Thorn laughed as she stuck one of her feet in her sisters face.

The two began to play fight with one another and chasing each other playfully before running into Dusk's door with a loud crash. "Oh shit!" Luna giggled before a scantily clad Dusk in only a green tank top and panties with a guy's sports coat hanging from her shoulders.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU TWO!?" The drummer screamed before throwing a shoe at Luna.

Thorn gave a scowl, "Chill out queen of darkness!" She yelled, laughing at her thick black eye shadow that ran down her face. Dusk's hair was down completely, not pony tailed or anything, which was odd to Luna because Dusk never let her hair down. Not only that, but the way her eye shadow was out on, it looked ruined and runny like she was crying. She looked into dusk's striking black eyes and saw that they were red from constant crying... But they showed something strange and confusing that puzzled her and even Dusk herself. Thorn on the other hand was oblivious and rolled her eyes before Dusk replied with a annoyed and aggro hell before slamming her bed room door behind her as she locked herself once again in her room.

Luna looked at Thorn with a disappointed gaze before she shrugged her shoulders and sat back down on the couch without a care in the world. Luna let out a sigh and approached Dusk's door, "Dusk, honey, whats going on?" Luna asked with genuine concern as she knocked on the door.

"Go away!" Dusk shouted, throwing a shoe at the door.

"Dusk! Whats going on? You've been like this for two days!" Luna asked her kindly.

The sound of the lock took Luna by surprise as a teary eyed Dusk opened the door rubbing her guilt filled eyes with her sleeve. "Is Sally coming?" She sniffled.

Luna looked back at Thorn and back at Dusk, "No Muffy." She replied as Dusk ushered Luna into her dark room before shutting the door behind them.

"Sorry for the mess..." Dusk apologized as the two sisters waltzed over the trashed room and over to her own entrance to the balcony.

"It's fine," Luna said as she reached the door first as Dusk put on a pair of jeans. "You look terrible Dusk..."

"Does it really fucking matter Kim?!" Dusk snapped, but soon threw her hands over her mouth and apologized. But Luna let it slide lead her younger, more temperamental sister outside to get some fresh air. They sat down in the decorative chairs in the fresh night air as the city lights reflected off of the clouds and the ant like lights of the cars raced down the streets. Dusk put her arms through the sleeves and began to hold herself with a smile as the scent of the sports coat filled her nose and mind with a familiar smell of a loving time, a time of warm nostalgia and tobacco.

Luna let out a sigh and broke the ice with an obvious question, "Who's coat is that?"

"No ones..." Dusk whispered like she was hiding something from her.

"Muffy..." Luna said in a calm, yet persistent tone.

Dusk gave a disgruntled grunt before giving a sigh that made her skin crawl, "Karl's..."

Luna rose her brow and asked, "Who's Karl?"

Dusk looked at her older sister like a fool, "Kim! You know who he is! Don't be stupid!"

"Dusk the name sounds familiar, but I don't get clear picture of him." Luna admitted as the name ran through her mind.

"Ahugh!" Dusk grunted as she ran back into her room to grab something out of her bags. Luna looked at her puzzled as she returned with a stained and tattered picture of a younger Dusk in her classic green outfit and bare foot with a goat-T'ed and handsome gentleman in a leather jacket up holding her in his arms like a sleeping maiden. "You remember this? You took it..." Dusk replied annoying, spent on not having her own sister remember him. Especially since they shared the cover of his long black trench coat and his strong body from the emission.

A freight train of memories hit Luna as she grabbed her temples in pain as a mix of painful and good memories raced past her mind. It was a route for her as she remembered everything...

"Karl..." Luna replied with a genital, yet fearful tone as she remembered his more frightful appearance in Gatorsburg three years ago. "He... He..." Luna shuddered as she tried desperately to process this information, but her mind just couldn't bare it.

"He saved us..." Dusk finished for her sister, "He saved us twice... And he's alive..." Dusk replied in thankful, yet scorned, tone.

Even through her head ache of the past, Luna could still feel the hostility in her younger, more angst filled, sister. Looking into Dusk's black eyes she could see a whirlwind of Angst, confusion, anger, and strangely... glee. Dusk never said much about herself, and for good reason, but Luna and her lover Karl learned more about her through her eyes than anything. But the first question that came to mind was another obvious one, "How?"

"Fuck, I don't know! The same way he did when he came out of thin fucking air!" Dusk exclaimed, "The fucker is just as magic as that Witch, Claudia, or Ben Ravencroft!"

"Claudia... Claudia Marlin?" Luna inquired as the images of an older woman of Thorn's appearance whisked past her memory.

"Damn, where you've been?" Dusk replied in a sassy tone.

"Fuck I don't know! I just..." Luna replied in a defeated and tired tone.

"Just what?! Blind, deaf, and dumb?" Dusk mocked her sister in sincere, but still insulting tone. Luna could notice her shift in tone to a more thankful tone and she made a little chuckle before punching her sister in the arm playfully, "Your sounding like Karl already..."

Dusk rolled her eyes and wrapped the coat around herself a little tighter as a cool breeze danced through the balcony. "Yeah..." Dusk said with a long sigh as a tear ran through her makeup and down her cheek. "He came here..." Dusk added in a cold and sad tone.

"He did?" Luna asked surprisingly.

"Yeah, talking to Ringo about mercenaries or something. I don't know." Dusk replied with a slight smirk at her nickname for Jasper.

"You were spying on them?" Luna inquired with a slight laugh, Dusk would always spy on some people. She should know, Dusk would spy on her and Shaggy Rogers when they were together.

"Mhmmmm maybe... Maybe not?" Dusk chuckled warmly, a sign that Luna was getting someone with her.

"So he just came to talk with Jasper?" Luna interjected, getting right to the point.

"Ugh, I guess!" Dusk spat rudely before becoming noticeably quiet for a moment. Flipping her hair, Dusk continued on in a obviously fake, yet bitchy tone. "He came in all big and tough talking about some pigs or something and left..." She lied to her sister with a straight face, but Karl's words echoed through her mind like a broken record. It torn into her heart and Luna could see it, two years in psychology class with Ms. Rattly in high school payed off!

"And his coat just magically appeared around you? Yeah right Dusk, He came to see you." Luna said with an arrogant smirk. "You've never been a good liar sis."

Dusk's face turned a bright crimson from a mix of irritation and embarrassment. "Just! Uhhh Errrr! Fuck you Luna!" Dusk replied defeated before admitting he and Karl's little moment together. Dusk gave a sigh before replying, "Ok ok, He said he was going to check on me so I dived into my bed and faked sleeping. He didn't do anything bad beside just... Just..." A slight loving smirk appeared on Dusk's face as she started playing with her hair. "He played with my hair with his big hands and I just couldn't help but get closer to him." Dusk let out a giggle, A giggle!

Luna rose he brow and smirked triumphantly, but wide eyed that her usually grumpy sister was giggling like a little girl.

"I rapped my arms around him and... just held on to him..." Dusk continued as her black heart began to melt, as did her make up again as tears ran down her face. "He just let me hold him..." Dusk held herself close with her arms rapped around her waist with her tear filled eyes closed. Luna scooted to her sister and gave her a hug as she began to sob quietly and cuss under her breath as she broke down on her sisters shoulder.

"He... He... He told me that he couldn't come back!" Dusk sobbed before breaking out in tears and crying.

Luna held on to her and swayed her from side to side as Muffy "Dusk" St. James let all her built up angst and sadness out on her shoulder. Luna shhh'ed her quietly as they swayed side to side for at least ten minutes before Thorn, oblivious to what unfolded, yelled to the girls "Hey! Vampire Diaries is coming on in ten!"

Dusk and Luna looked up at her, "Awesome! We're just finishing up, ok?" Luna said in a caring tone with a look that Thorn knew all to well, Dusk was having a moment and Luna had to play Oprah for the little sister of the group once more.

"Yea Yea," Thorn said. "Make it quick!" She finished before closing the door and laying back down on the couch.

"I'm going to make some snacks," Luna said as she got up from the chair. "You coming?"

Dusk shook her head, "I'm just... I'm just going to sit outside for a bit. Get me when the show starts, I heard theirs going to be a twist in this episode." She replied unsure of herself as she gathered her thoughts.

Luna nodded and closed the door behind her leaving Dusk by herself. Deep down Dusk did not like being alone, but tonight she needed to gather her thoughts. All was quiet outside as the new day drew closer with the roads almost empty and quiet besides the occasional sound back fire of car on the streets, the tap-tap of gunshots from afar, and the drowning echo of freight trains in the distance. From her seat she could see the faint light of homes on the hillsides beyond the forest of steel and concert that was the city itself, but beyond both the illuminated hillsides and steel jungles of the city was the beauty of the full moon and the twinkling stars that Dusk could not help but stare at with a puppy dog frown.

"Wish you were here..." She said as she button the two buttons of the sports coat to keep her warm and cosy. The coat was only a cheap substitution for the real Karl Dael and she knew it... Dusk longed to have him rapped around her once more, to hear his voice, and to feel his lips against hers once more.

Her blood boiled hot as the feeling of being "jipped", Robbed or cut short. She bit her tongue to keep herself from screaming at the top of her lungs in a fierce rang, but couldn't contain the rage any long before throwing her chair off the balcony and scream to herself in frustration.

"WHAT ARE YOU RUNNING FROM!?" She screamed in her mind before she saw the chair levitating just over the rail. "Wh- What the fuck!?" Dusk shouted before stepping back in surprise and clenching her fists in response.

"Aren't you a little jumpy tonight?" A girly voice said with a giggle.

"Aw fuck, don't fucking tell me it's a damn witch!" Dusk replied in a reluctant and dreading tone as she took a stance. "First Sarah Ravencroft, Claudia, and now you. I getting tired of this shit!"

A girl as young as fourteen in a black and white outfit with a DP on her chest appeared with glowing green eyes and snow white hair sitting on the floating chair with a grin. "What? I'm not a witch! I'm a ghost! See!" The girl protested as she began to float and phase through walls with ease. "Want me to overshadow you and make a point?"

Dusk rolled her eyes, "Whatever. What the fuck are you doing here and why do you have my chair?" Dusk replied coldly.

"Duh! You threw it so I decided to return it before it killed someone. Thought you rock-stars were suppose to be cool and not total cunts." Dani said in a bitchy tone, "Guess Karl was wrong about you being cool."

"What did you just say?" Dusk asked, interested and surprised that she knew of her boyfriend. Not even the media knew of him or the love birds flings...

"You heard me Dusk." The girl replied coolly as she looked at her nails aloofly.

"OK! Who the fuck are you bitch?! How do you know my name and how do you know him?!" Dusk demanded, stomping her foot on the ground.

The girl chuckled arrogantly, "I'm Danielle, Dani for short." Dani replied to the angry rock star. "Yeah I know him, I live with him too if that helps."

Dusk's face turned red with rage and jealousy, "_How the hell can that piece of shit let some kid live with him... She don't have anything to offer..." _Dusk thought to herself before getting a gross picture in her mind.

"Don't get any ideas!" Dani replied sternly, "All he blabs about is you you you and you..."

Dusk's hopes grew high and her eyes lit up, "re-Really?" She asked, unsure of herself. "I mean.. Uh, whatever! I don't fucking care about that asshole anymore." Dusk lied, turning around and crossing her arms to hide her lying eyes.

"Whatever you say..." Dani said as she returned the chair to the balcony. "He's at the factory at a party if you want to know."

Dusk kept her head down, but replied in a whisper "The one down there?" Referring to the abandon steel plant.

"Yeah, a huge rave is going on!" Dani replied enthusiastically with childish glee. "I'm heading there right now! Want to come!?"

Dusk looked over to her sisters and then back at Dani. She loved going to raves... And seeing Karl will make it all worth wild. She closed her eyes and imagined dirty dancing with her man and well... She could help but blush at the thoughts going through her mind. "Sure!" Dusk replied, "How we going to get there?"

Dani just giggled before grabbing Dusk's hand and flying into the air, "Same way I got here silly!"

* * *

_**Alabama Steel Plant, 1:30am **_

* * *

Dani and Dusk landed in an open area near the back entrance to the plants main building, just a few yards from the massive blast furnace site. The whole site was silent... Not even the bats or birds made a sound which unnerved Dusk to the point of rethinking her choice to come with the strange girl. Dani ran toward an open door where the faint sounds of club music could be heard slightly as Dusk followed her new companion.

"Hold up! Where's the cars? The music? The lights?" Dusk asked worryingly.

"C'mon! Are you chicken?" Dani taunted Dusk immaturely before running into the darkness.

"Fuck you!" Dusk laughed as she chased after Dani without hesitation in the hopes of seeing Karl. This was it, The moment she has dreamed of for years and it all was going to come true tonight. Her heart pounded in her chest like a wild animal and her eye glowed with anticipation. As she crossed the thresh hold of the door she let out a yell, "Who's ready to Party!?"

"We are..." A man's voice replied before a girl dressed in a red suit hit her with a stun gun and knocked her on the floor. Dusk couldn't move and tried to fight the underhanded attack, but the girl only hit her again and three men armed with black Krinkov rifles appeared and pointed their weapons in her face. The girl who stunned her was a young girl of 16 and African with a yellow hair ban in her hair, But what puzzled her more was Dani standing right next to her...

"Dani... What's? Whats going on?" Dusk yelled as the older girl placed her boot on her chest.

"Catching bait for one big fish." The girl laughed before a man in a red suit and in a wheel chair appeared.

"Grey, stand down. The girl is already stunned." The man demanded before the thugs picked her up by the shoulders and leveled her head to the him. "Ahh yes, The troubled one... Perfect... Just perfect... You'll make a fine project for my work..." He said in a lustful tone. "I have many plans for you American."

The guards dragged Dusk away to an waiting van leaving the Man and Dani alone in the large room. "Wonderful job on collecting a specimen for my project, my frined..." The man thanked her.

Dani spoke up in agreement, "Indeed and the other two tarts will be in your hands as soon as your boys come a knock-in." The way she spoke it was in a thick Louisianan accent in a male voice. Dani soon shed her skin and appeared in front of the man as a slender figure in a lavish black suit with top hat and cane.

"Good..." The man in the chair said ominously as he rubbed his hands together in delight. "All according to plan... All according to plan..."


	7. Chapter 7: Goverment Sponsored Terror

_**Hello Readers! Sorry for the absence again! My computer decided to play "Fuck you Dresner!" and Deleted some bits of my story -_- **_

_**So between work, School, and my newly added GSM Mod for Men of War Assault Squads I've had only a little bit of time to work on it. But I'm glad to see people are enjoying my work! :) Oh and the first few bits in bold are news casts to give you a feel of what has happen in the last few weeks after Chapter 6. **_

_**R&R :)**_

_**With Love ~Dresner**_

* * *

_**Channel 3 News: (A beautiful blonde in a red ladies suit with a perky attitude stands in front of the camera in front of row of burning and destroyed apartments. ((The news anchor from SD:Stage Fright))) **_

_**JS: "This is Jenny Summers reporting for Channel 3 evening news!" Jenny says in a cheerful tone, but quickly shifts to a darker and appropriate tone.  
"Today a string of attacks has plagued the community of West End here in Birmingham."  
**_

_**(Camera pans down a row of apartment buildings chard and burned, some still engulfed in fire, and others still bellowing smoke.)**_

_**JS: "These attack began only hours ago as four men, from what the police have stated, began to throw the infamous "Molotov Cocktail" Fire bombs into the windows of the apartments. Victims of the attack say they were Italian by their mannerisms and other say they were Russian by the way they shouted obscenities as they doused their homes with the deadly gas." **_

_**(Jenny walks to a woman holding her child)  
**_

_**Victim one: "They just pulled up in a black ford explorer and started bombing us. They were yelling and woopin and hollarin in all kinds of words."**_

_**(Camera pans to a older man)**_

_**Victim two: "These guys knew what they were doing and they did it rather methodically. If they were Gangsters then they would have been more reckless, but these guys weren't..."**_

_**(Camera shifts to Jenny and Fire Marshall Donovan Carlin, a large and muscular man with a thick beard and Eye brows dressed in fireman's attire.)  
**_

_**JS: "Fire Marshall Carlin, what can you tell us about the arson?"**_

_**DC: "From what the investigators can find, the perpetrators used profession thickening agents and Chlorine tablets to add to the power and burn time of the petrol bombs. But what really fueled the blaze to the magnitude that you see behind us was the large concentrations of Methamphetamine production facilities that littered the majorities of the apartments here, owned and operated by the Crips and Folk street gangs. The first few bombs struck through the windows of the stills were and caused the first blaze. The rest were just for good measure." **_

_**JS: "Was this a professional job? Was this a gang related hit? Was this the work of the Mafia or Gang members?"  
**_

_**DC: "Professional Yes, Gang related maybe. But what we do know is that this thoroughly planned out..."**_

* * *

_**Channel 5 WRKH News, One day after the West End Firebombing: "Reports of gun fire at the The Nick Night Club in Down town Birmingham as Folk Nation Gang members open fire with Machine guns on Russian and Italian Mobsters"  
**_

_**(Camera shows the street side view and front of The Nick. The only trailer drawn sigh shot to pieces, shell casings laying everywhere, an abandon MAC-10 and cheap Type 56, Chinese knock off of the AK47, laying on the ground, and medical personally carrying off bodies in body bags.  
**_

_**"Without question, this is the worse massacre in Birmingham's History..."**_

* * *

_**Channel 10 News, 3 days later: "Riots have broken out all over Birmingham in response to the Firebombing of Pearson Ave Apartments and the "Nick's Massacre" as groups of Angry civilians and gang members battle it out on the street with Fists, Knives, broken bottles, and fire arms."  
**_

_**(Scenes of Rioting, looting, burning, and mass violence. Comparable or surpassing the 1992 L.A Riots.)**_

* * *

_**Three Days after the Birmingham Riots began... **_

Governor Johnathan "Bulldog" Bentley ran his hand through his thick brown hair before preceding to the podium in front of the historic Jefferson county court house. The court house was a massive building of granite and steel that stood the test of time through out the turbulent history of Birmingham, Alabama. All around the Governor were microphones and cameras of every news and media outlet in America as they flocked to listen to the Governor speak about the Riots. Streets were blocked off by National Guardsmen and Gate Keeper mercenaries with Water cannons and M113 APC's, but the Governor himself rejected the idea of having the machine gun packing troops beside him or wearing a bullet proof vest for that matter. The Governor once served in the 82nd Airborne division in Iraq, 1991 and 2003, and Afghanistan, 2007-2010, as an officer with many decorations He refused to wear a vest then and he stood by his word and anyone who questioned his judgement soon realized why he was known across the state and country as "Bulldog Bentley".

The Governor wore his US Army Dress uniform with beret and his decorations for this address to the people of Birmingham as he always did, the man was a patriot and showed it everyday. As he approached the podium he gave a confident smile as he looked over to a large crowd of screaming and chanting citizens. The titian of a man cleared his throat and let out a heart hello to his people in a thick southern drawl on the fine day it is.

"My fellow Alabamians, Over the past few days chaos and disorder has rake the proud city of Birmingham and it's surrounding towns. Violence, discourse, rioting, and toxicity plague and ravage our town longer than just the atrocities of the West end bombings and The Nick's Massacre. This is the breaking point for the people of Birmingham and the Mayor, William Bell, has failed his duties as a mayor. On this day, September 23rd 2017, I dismiss William Bell as Mayor and appoint myself as its mayor until this crisis has been resolved. I have ordered the deployment of National Guards troops as the temporary replacement of the Birmingham police for until order is restored and the disbanding of all Militia organizations operating under the Gate Keepers initiative. All Rioters are to lay down their arms and return to a civilized manner or will be seen hostile enemy combatants and will be dealt with. I declare that order will be returned to the city of Birmingham in only a matter of days, If needed. Today marks a new day for not only the magic city of Birmingham, but all of Alabama itself..."

A sudden, sharp, and thunderous crack echos through the street followed by blood curdling screams of citizens as the large door to the Jefferson court house was douched in the blood of Governor Bentley...

* * *

_**Four weeks later...**_

* * *

Karl parked the car at a parking lot across the street from Leer Tower, a Large abandon hotel in downtown Birmingham now turned meeting ground from the criminal underworld and stronghold for Nikita Kamov's Band of Volgagrad Mobsters. In passenger seat his brother, Roddy, nervously chain smoking the last of Karl's cigarettes as the rain fell harder on the roof of the car.

"Karl, I'm not to sure about this." Roddy spoke up nervously as he finished the last cigarette in the pack. "This place stinks of folk and those riots haven't helped anything. The gangs run the city and the guards run only minor bits and we have nothing but the fucking country side. Why the fuck are we here meeting with the thugs and mobsters anyways?"

"The state blames us for killing the governor and no one in the fucking underground knows a damn thing about who started all this shit in West end." Karl replied harshly. "Who ever did it really did a fucking number on everyone to want to bring a fucking war zone to this fucking town! Now calm the fuck down before I have to do it myself!" Karl grabbed his brother by the collar of his work shirt to prove his point. For weeks, even before the fire bombing of West End, Karl was acting strange, stranger than his usually odd self. But something sent him over the line a tad... The older brother remembers sitting in the living room with his brother and Dani weeks before drinking and having a good time as usual. A news report came on Channel five that morning about the disappearance of three girls the night before named Sally Mcknight, Muffy St. James, and Kim Moss; The Hex girls.

_**Flashback: Four weeks ago.**_"Police are on the look out for the band, The Hex girls, as word of their sudden disappearance from the five points hotel." The anchor woman spoke as Karl leaned forward from his conferrable chair to turn up the volume. Pictures of the girls appeared on scene, as did the cumbersome Jasper Ridgesway with the obnoxious Krissy Kristy interviewing him about his findings in the apartment. Before Roddy could even think of a response, Karl stormed to his room and returned moments later in a dark trench coat and cap.

"Karl, Where are you..."

"Hunting..." Karl said coldly as he charged out the door

_**Present Day:  
**_Roddy remembers the night he found his brother in an alley way with a gang banger with his hand rapped firmly around the man's neck and his large framed Mauser pistol in the other. The fear in the eyes of a gang banger, the eyes of a man more accustom to robbing the defenseless and slaughtering those weaker than him like a hyena, was a usual sight for Roddy. But when he approached his dear brother he saw something rather shocking and almost... Disturbing. Karl's eyes were blue, bright tealish blue, and his movements were rather nonhuman and uncharacteristic for him. Roddy couldn't find the words to describe the look in those orbs that were his brothers eyes... The only word that seemed to fit was hate... The sight of Karl dropping the man on the ground like a glove before placing the barrel of his pistol to the base of the fellows skull was burned into his mind for weeks, not even the stiffest of drinks could burn or blur that night away...

It was the first night, ever, he saw his brother committed a cold blooded execution...

Since Karl reformed Roddy's gang into an effective element in the underground he never saw his brother kill in cold blood. Defending yourself or in a fire fight with the police or gangsters was a whole other affair when compared to execution style murder. Karl vowed that the lives of innocents would not be lost to pointless violence, even the strange Germans he inducted into the gang upheld this rule no matter what the circumstance was. Since that incident, Karl never took a drink or even a casual cigarette or two. This couldn't be the Karl he knew or grew up with... It couldn't be...

Karl returned to his seat and gave a remorseful look to his brother. He reached over to the center console and retrieved an object rapped in a small cloth and handed it to his brother. "Take it." Karl told him in a slight monotone.

"A piece?" Roddy asked as he unwrapped the cloth to find an old Colt 1911.

"It's dads..." Karl replied grimly as he pulled out his uncle's Mauser pistol and loaded it with Hollow point bullets. "I replaced the firing pin and springs, as well as the whole guts of the damn thing, same with this piece. It should run like new when you need it."

Roddy looked at him with surprise, "Why this? Why not some E-piece from your workbench or a cheap Beretta?"

"You need a real gun and getting slapped with a false charge of credit card fraud and Illegal possession of a weapon wont bring back you 454." Karl said as he stepped out of the car and into the heavy sheet of rain outside. "If this goes bad I want to die with a piece of my family. So Stay in the car and wait for me, If shit hits the fan call up my boys and Dani they'll whip these reptiles in shape real quick."

Roddy was worried, since he began the biker life one year ago on parole he never dared to even speak to any of his enemies on any terms. Especially since Karl was meeting with the leaders of the Street gangs, Italian and Russian Mobs, and even his old friend Jon Tyler and his remaining Gate Keeper Mercenaries. Something wasn't right in the air and Roddy was very vocal about it once Karl told him and the crew about the meeting just hours before. he remembers him telling them that this might be a "Night Train" or something, Roddy didn't know what that meant at all. But the strange Germans only gave a slow nod and rushed toward there respected trailers and makeshift homes down the road to later return wearing strange uniforms of a splinter or marsh like pattern smock, side laced boots, strange helmets or caps or berets, and FN FAL and G3 battle rifles and MG-3 machine guns. There were only fifty of the odd men, but out of the countless others in the gang they were loyal only to Karl, Even calling him Colonel or Herr Oberst. He knew Karl served with some army and company for awhile, but he didn't know who which troubled him. Not only that, but why were any of these retched low life's meeting with him? Why were they even meeting in the first place?

"Why are we meeting these guys? What happen to "We're Loners" and "We fight with the good guys"?" Roddy asked, finally taking the moral high ground.

"We are Loners, but I have people I watch over." Karl replied shutting the car door in in Roddy's face and marched of toward the gates were two mobsters stood at guard.

"Where do you think your going freak!?" One of the jumpy mobsters asked before Karl drew his pistols and shoved them in the faces of the mobsters.

"To the meeting. Now lead me there before I change my mind and find my own way." Karl said coldly as he cocked the hammers back on his pistols. The mobsters stood down and lead him in to the Leer tower.

Roddy could only hope that his brother knew what he was doing... He couldn't lose his brother...

A loud crash shook the car and scared Roddy who threw himself out of the car with Colt in hand. The rain came down harder and harder with every passing second with thunder shaking the sky and lightening dancing across the night sky. Roddy thought it might have been thunder or looters throwing their booty out a window to escape an armed defender, but something about this night had him on edge. "What the fuck did you do to my fuckin car eh?!" Roddy yelled as he brandished his forty five automatic pistol in all directions. "You got a fucking beef you rioting scum!?"

Rustling could be heard near by from a collection of bushes and trash toward another abandon building. Roddy gave a smirk and walked toward the car to grab a heavy flashlight from the trunk of the car to spot who ever was in the brush.

"Fucker is going to get a nasty surprise when I show up with this." Roddy muttered to himself as he admired the Colt .45 in his hand as he neared the trunk, his back facing the street.

"Surprise!" A cheery voice yelled before a round house kick from a goth boot swiped the side of his face from behind. Knocking him down to the ground like a rag doll into a puddle of rain water and his own blood from his broken teeth. He turned to his side and tried to pick himself up, but the same pair of black boots with white buckles struck him again in the stomach before the heavy cocking of his father's pistol was heard behind his head.

"Move another inch and I won't hesitate to break your pretty pistol's cherry." A calm and confident girlish voice said. Roddy complied as best he could before a figure jerked him up by the back of his neck and two girls, one pale and blonde and the other a tanish skinned and orange haired girl, wearing breathing masks and tight cat woman like jumpsuits with boots of some kind. Their eyes were the same color as Karl's was the night he executed the gang banger and with the same homicidal gaze as well...

"If this one is here, than our target is inside." The girl holding the gun to his said. From the corner of his eye and the faint light of remaining street lights that managed to break through the endless rain he could see strands of raven black hair tinned with red. Lightening illuminated the ground below and reflected off of the girl's skin just enough so Roddy could make out the face...

"Let him go Thorn." The blonde commanded to the girl on his back. "But throw him in the trunk of his car, but make it quick! I don't want Karl escaping."

Thorn gave a scowl, but the blonde persisted as her fists grew bright with teal energy. "WELL?" The blonde growled. Thorn gave a reluctant snarl before picking Roddy up by the neck one handed, "I got it Dusk, I got it." Thorn said lazily, "Luna open the trunk."

Luna opened the trunk of the charger and Thorn threw him in the trunk quickly before locking the trunk.

Thorn gazed over the beautiful pistol she took from Roddy before sliding it in her belt. "What do you see Dusk?" She asked her sister as they all three looked up at the tower. Through their Aura sense they could see patrolling mobsters on several of the floors and a small collection of three at the 19th floor sitting in a circle. But in an elevator was a large and awe striking aura approaching the table.

"Always on time baby, always on time." Dusk hissed with a slight smirk. "You know the plan girls... Alive if possible..."

"And everyone else?" Luna asked.

"Kill them all." Dusk replied coldly before they jumped into the air toward a near by building and began to climb the tower.

* * *

_**Meanwhile at the Meeting...  
**_

* * *

Karl stood in the room with the look of death as he gaze upon four of the most feared men in the Magic city. Nikita Kamov, Leader of the Southern operation for the Russian mafia. Benito Brasco, head of the Brasco Family, "Mac-10", A high ranking lieutenant in the Folk Nation representing for the gangs in Birmingham, and Jon Tyler, The lead of the now disbanded Gate Keepers.

"Gentlemen, We have business to discuss..." Karl said in a cold tone as he neared his chair...


	8. Chapter 8: Dream is Collapsing

_**Hope you enjoy this action filled chapter! Sorry for the long wait! Thank you for your views, R&R!**_

_**With Love ~Dresner**_

* * *

_**Leer Tower Meeting...  
**_

* * *

"Nikita, Benito, Jon, and Norman." Karl said, greeting each men by name and "Mac-10" by his real name of Norman. Norman "Mac-10" Kennedy was a large black male with large muscles that bared a strong resplendence to actor Terry Cruse or a muscular Rick Ross. Norman got his name Mac-10 after he and five other gang members stormed the Birmingham police headquarters to free their fellow gang members which ended in a shootout with Police, with Norman holding two Mac-10 machine pistols in his hands. He was a very intimidating figure with a short temper. Norman and Karl use to go to school together until he was ex-spelled from Trussville High School for nearly beating a teacher to death with a stapler. Karl and Norman never spoke much to one another during school, only a few times but that centered around "Which girl would you fuck?" conversations. He wore a light bullet proof vest and a faded pair of blue jeans with white Adidas shoes and a black beanie covering his shaved head.

"Muthafucka say what!? The name is Mac-10! Mac Mutha fukin 10!" Mac-10 said as he pulled out a Gold Mac-11 machine pistol trying to intimidate Karl. "You dis Mac-10 in his face muthafucka?! Then you gonna get dis here Mac-10..."

Karl disarmed the large gangster and delivers a swift left hook to his face, planting the man on the ground and knocking him down a peg. "Mac-11 and yeah I know your name, Norman. You think I've forgotten you after all these years?" Karl remarked in a monotone as he broke apart the Mac-11 and threw the parts on the ground in front of him. "Now get up. We have business to attend to." He said cutting to the point and lending a hand to Mac-10. Mac-10 picked himself up and gave Karl the finger before returning to his seat next to Jon Tyler.

Nikita cracked his knuckles and placed a black and gold Desert Eagle with a gold hammer and sickle on the grips on the table, Benito did the same with his .44 revolver, and Jon Tyler with a Glock 18. "Comrade Karl, please place your weapon on the table as a sign of solidarity. It would be much appreciated that you do so."

"Da tovarishch Kamov." Karl responded in his best Russian. Karl placed his Mauser pistols on the table next to each other with grips facing outward, just in case he needed to grab them quick. But left the colt pocket pistol in his boot, dealing with criminals isn't the safest line of work.

"Good to see you Jon." Karl remarked as he took his seat next to Kamov.

"Like wise Karl." Jon remarked with a tired grin. "You've made a name of yourself lately."

Jon Tyler and Karl were once close friends who traveled to North to find Karl's sister, Shella, when his father died. That was almost four or five years ago and the two lost contact with each other after the trailer park was shut down due to a loop hole in the contract. He went on his own path from then and soon found himself working in Private security and later starting his own Private military company, The Gate Keepers, after his employer filed for bankruptcy after the end of the Afghan war in 2015. Jon retained his rather buff appearance and tan skin, but his eyes told the story of a run down alcoholic who was on his last leg. He wore a heavy tactical vest with his name and rank of Commander on his left breast over a grey tactical turtle neck (Its real look it up) with urban camouflage pants tucked into a pair of black combat boots.

"You can say that." Karl said coldly as he and Mac-10 exchanged ugly glares.

"Right then," Jon Tyler said as they began the meeting. "We all know why were are here right?"

They shook their heads, but Karl didn't and spoke up with "The riot, who fire bombed the West end apartments, the Nicks massacre, the assassination of Governor Bentley... What do they all have in common?"

"A bunch of thugs speaking Russian and throwing Molotovs." Benito remarked with disdain toward Nikita. Benito was a short man, five foot tale, dressed in a fancy $20,000 dollar suit, tie, and leather shoes with thick black hair. Benito suffered from a Napoleon complex and was insistently hostile to anyone that was not Italian or anyone for that matter. Karl only had a few encounters with Benito, mainly from arms deals from the Gigagan convoys rushing up and down the highways. Intense, impatient, ruthless, and over all a horses ass, Benito Brasco was not one to have as an enemy or taken lightly.

But even Jon, Norman, and Benito could not raise a candle to Nikita Kamov.

Nikita Kamov, The Great bear of the North as he was known, was a beast of a man. Standing six foot seven, 276 pounds, with a thick beard and baring a liking to Josef Stalin, Nikita was a terrifying figure. Clad in a long black coat over his black suit only made his presents more ominous and threatening, even giving Karl a few chills down his spine. He was an old man in his seventies, but was still as quick as a young man in his twenties. His demeanor was calm, but unnerving due to his seer size and build. Nikita ruled the Cocaine trade in the southern USA with an iron fist and exterminated anyone who thought it was wise to mess with the bears honey. He was not a brute by nature and was well known for his intelligence. Stories and rumors floated across the city about the Great bear some saying that he was an Ex-KGB agent who worked along side Vladimir Putin during the 1980's, Others say he was a ruthless Spetsnaz commando who escaped the USSR for war crimes committed during the Vietnam war, but others say nothing at all and not pester the bear. Karl only heard rumors of Nikita, rumors that shook even a hardcore and cold killer such as himself to the core. He always made it a note not to draw his wrath and always made sure that the arms deals with the Russians were fair priced and of high quality.

"Not Russian, but Ukrainian." Nikita corrected him as he pulled out an old tape recorder and started the tape. The tape played the voices of four men speaking rather calm and casually in an eastern Slavic language with distinctive pronunciations of certain words and odd mannerisms. "They are speaking a version of Ukrainian found only in one area of the country of Ukraine, a part of the country that is officially uninhabited. I believe someone as educated as yourself, Karl, knows where I am speaking of." Nikita said in a calm tone as he folded his hands together. Karl paused and listened to the tape very closely as the four men began to chat about the plan. The tape was muffled and scratchy, but Karl heard a sentence that made Nikita's clam all the more obvious to him.

_"This is so much easier than dealing with Freedom in Yanov. These pricks are like flogging bandits in the corridor!" _One of the men laughed.

Karl's eyes grew wide and his heart burned with hatred as he soon realized who the men in the car were, who started the riots, and brought the city into a start of total war.

"The exclusion zone." Karl replied in a loaf filled voice clenching his fists in anger.

"Da, these men purchased one kilo of cocaine from one of my associates over four days before the attack on Comrade Mac-10's Methamphetamine production facilities." Nikita replied before Jon Tyler put a file on the table.

"These men also purchased a thickening agents, chlorine tablets, and cases of wines from a local store in Leeds soon after their purchase with Nikita's drug dealer." Jon Tyler said as he gave the file to Karl. "We stumbled upon them in a routine surveillance op. They were very very sketchy and we watched them for days leading up to the Firebombing on West end. They dropped off the radar on the day of the bombing, but evidence on the scene proved that these men were the perpetrators in the bombing as shards from the wine bottles and traces of chlorine at the starting point of the fires point to these Ukrainians."

Karl flipped through the file to see some pictures of the men, but did not recognize them personally. "Are they connected to the Nick massacre or the assassination of the governor?" Karl asked.

"Hold up hold up! So these muthfucka's aren't with the bear? Who they with?" Mac-10 interjected.

"We don't know for sure. But going on, Those men have no connection to the massacre or the assassination." Jon Tyler added. "But what is interesting is that the weapons supposedly used in the massacre were stolen by members of Benito's outfit, but were stole again by another group of individuals."

"Dat bullsheet about my boyz shootin up the nick is nothin but lies and bullsheet." Mac-10 replied in his best gangster speech. "Dem ghats aren't the pieces my crew rolls with. They be to big and dat Mac they showed on the TV was to clean to be one of mine."

"Not to mention that those guns of mine were not even fired during the whacking." Benito added in agreement. "Those guns were nicked from some of enforcers in Huntsville just a couple of days before the bombing and the reprisal attack."

"The police reports say that shell casings found at the scene were of the 5.45mm Russian round and not the .45 of the Mac-10 or the 7.62x39mm of the Type 56. Those 5.45 Russian rounds were also a special round only available to the Russian Federation itself called "7N24", a Tungsten carbide armor piercing round. These guys weren't gangsters or hit men of any caliber I've ever encountered in America." Nikita said.

"Muh boyz don't even walk the streets near the nick anyways." Mac-10 added. Benito pointed two fingers at Mac-10 and said "I like you kid. At least you know where your fucking boys are unlike this schmuck in the fuckin trench coat." Benito said, referring to Karl.

"What is that suppose to mean?" Karl asked him coldly with a dead glare.

"Where to stare eh? First, they found one of those cheap leather vest of yours on the parking deck near a bunch of .50 cals shells where the governor was shot." Benito pointed out rudely. "Those special bullets Nikita is blabbing about must have came from those convoys you nick! I mean who else has those fancy commie guns laying a fucking around like its nothin, eh?"

"Hold on Hold on Benito," Jon interjected. "That part of Birmingham was under complete government and Gate Keepers control at the time of the assassination. There is no way in hell the Saints could even breath in that sector, let alone kill the governor for whatever reason, without having to answer to one of my men. Explain that for me, eh gino?"

"What the fuck did you just say to me motherfucker?" Benito asked sharply.

"You heard me or are you deaf?" Jon replied in a smart-ass tone.

"I'm going to make a deal with you, 'Commander fuck face'." Benito said in a angry tone. "I'm a nice guy and so I'm going to make you a deal because I'm such a nice guy. I want you to apologize for your disrespectful attitude toward my family and I _won't _come to your families homes in the middle of the night and send them off to the all might, I _won't _put a dead or alive reward on your ugly ass face, and _if _those guys are as kind as me and bring you to me I _won't _peal your face like a fucking onion? How does that sound?"

Jon gave the Italian a smirk before Karl grabbed him from across the table and threw him into wall, cracking the dry wall before landing on his ass. "Fuhgeddabouit. (Forget about it)" Karl said with a smirk before grabbing Benito by the collar and sitting him down in the chair. "Now what were you saying my Italian friend?"

"Nuthin. Fuhgeddabouit." Benito murmured as Karl returned to his seat as Jon and Karl shared approving grins.

"Cold ass muthafucka." Mac said with a chuckle, giving respect to Karl. "Hadn't seen you in a fight since grade school."

Karl laughed and went on with business, "Look, the government is pointing every finger at us and yet it all doesn't make a lick of sense at all. But I think I might know who is behind it all. It's got to be an old associate of mine by the name of Alexander Coelian. I mean the Ukrainians from the Zone, the bullets, and the motives itself just scream his name..."

* * *

"DING DING DING!" A loud girly voice shouted gleefully before the ceiling above the meeting table broke open sending thick dust through out the room, blinding everyone and causing them the cough uncontrollably. Acting on instinct, Karl reached for his Broomhandle Mauser pistols but was met by a roundhouse kick to the side of his face and knocking him off balance.

"Fucker!" Karl yelled, biting on his tongue to control himself as his anger began to build.

"Is that how you talk to your GIRLFRIEND?!" The voice yelled as another strong kick to the face threw in a wall, breaking the dry wall and throwing him into the next room where three mobsters were playing cards. The room was an abandon suit of some kind with large ceilings and appeared to be a renovation from one of the many buys that wanted to renovate the Leer tower. A large glass door leading to a balcony dominated the room, as did the flashing lightening and the thunder of the storm.

The mobsters dropped what they were doing, grabbed their MP-5 sub-machine guns, and went to aid Karl. "Yo! Whats goin on here!?" One asked before he was attacked from behind by a blacked haired girl in a leather jump suit and face mask. "Just a little party!" She yelled before driving a large knife through his back and stomach. The mobsters opened fire with their MP-5's screaming at the top of their lungs as the sound of machine guns and tumbling brass echoed through the room, but the girl was trained and mastered the art of acrobatics as she leaped through the air of the large suite. Dodging bullets as they flew wildly through the air, the girl vanished into the darkness above them. The mobsters looked around curiously with their smoking guns clutched tightly in their hands.

"Bro are you..." Another asked as he and his friend were decapitated in front of Karl. There blood falling on to his coat and dripping from the bill of his cap like water in a storm.

"Yeah Karl," A harsher toned female voice said from the broken wall. "Are you ok? Hmm?"

Karl propped himself up with his arms and looked around frantically for the girl, but couldn't see through the darkness in his panic.

"He seems a little... Scared, don't you think D?" The other girl said in a more demanding, yet sweet tone.

"Who the fuck are you?!" Karl yelled, picking himself up and grabbing the pocket pistol from his boot.

"T, he doesn't seem to remember us." D asked her friend as she came out of the shadows along with T. They both wore the same leather outfit and face masks, similar to what one would use for snow boarding, but one was black haired with red tint and other other was blonde with pig tails. Both of the girls were very pale and with almost illuminating teal eyes that struck Karl full of fear and admiration in his heart, as did the dripping blood from the long saber on D's back and the Blacked and suppressed Beretta M12 machine pistols at her hips.

"Aww Karl, I'm so heart broken." D laughed as she faked cried as another kick struck Karl from the back of the head, rolling him over on to his stomach before falling back into the safety of the darkness. He quickly rolled over back on to his back and fire three shots into the darkness where the kick originated.

"Oooh! He's got some fight in him!" T shouted with glee.

D laughed, "You should see him in bed!"

Karl looked around frantically with regular and aura sense and saw only darkness all around, which aggravated him more. "Show yourself! Come on!" Karl roared as he brandished his pistol in confusion.

"Aww look at him T! He's so helpless!" D scoffed with a chuckle before she struck the browning pistol out of Karl's hand.

T laughed sadistically as the gun scrapped across the floor, "Look at him now! Aww Karl! Where's your toy now?"

Karl growled in rage as his powers took control from his mind and leaped to his feet with burning teal eyes. "COME ON BITCH! I'LL MAKE YOU MY TOY!" Karl's voice changed from his usually deep and kind voice to a more demonic and animalistic roar.

Dusk felt a chill run down her spine as she saw the first stage of Karl's corruption, The power was feeding off of his anger and was now in control... For now. She shook her head quickly to get her head back in the game and ran toward him at full speed at Karl's front. She leaped into the air just above him to get his attention just before Thorn swiped his feet from under him. Dusk landed with her spiked boot heals through his shoulders with a chuckle, "Whats wrong baby? You forgot to breath and count to 10?" She taunted him.

_"What the fuck!? It's Dusk! Babygirl! What the hell is she doing?!" _Karl thought to himself, dumbfounded and confused.

_"IT MATTERS NOT! KILL HER! KILL HER!" _A dark voice shouted in response.

"_WHY!? This can't be her!" _Plead to the darkness with in him. "_This has to be a trick! We have to get some answers!"  
_

Karl blinked and the darkness with in him returned to the corridors of his mind and body, but the pain of the spikes digging and burning into his shoulder blades ripped through his body.

"Oooh baby! Your back!" Dusk shouted with glee as poked her head out of the shadows near Karl's. "And so am I."

"WHO ARE YOU! Aghugh! Fuck!" Karl yelled in pain.

"I'm your babygirl, remember? Don't tell me you forgot about me." She said in a sarcastically hurt tone with a puppy dog face.

"Dusk?" Karl said innocently before biting back ferociously, "Lies! Lies! You can't be her!"

"Hardheaded as usual." Thorn said as she loomed over head with his Fathers Colt .45

"Thorn? What the... Where did you get that?! RODDY! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!" Karl shouted as he thrashed on the floor, dinging and grouching the spikes deeper and deeper into his shoulder blades.

Dusk rolled her eyes and Thorn laughed, "Aww! Look! He has feelings! haha! We strung him up! haha!" Dusk replied sadistically until Thorn giggled. "Nah! We locked him the back of the car and left him there, chill." Thorn said, putting her hands on her hip and flipping her hair in a "I don't care" fashion before loading a round into the chamber of the Colt .45.

"Now are you going to be a good boy..." She said as she pressed the pistol against his forehead. "Or are you going to be..." Thorn couldn't finish her sentence before a round of gun shots from high caliber guns threw her and Dusk on to the ground in the darkness.

"Comrade Karl!" Nikita yelled as he and Jon Tyler entered the room with smoking handguns. "We must go!" The bear picked up Karl by the jacket and threw him to his feet.

"Here!" Jon Tyler yelled as he handed Karl his handguns. "Bro! Are you ok?!" He yelled as he pointed out the blood stains on Karl's shoulders.

Karl closed his eyes and clenched his whole body until the bleeding stopped and placed two fingers over the wound, Supernatural powers have their perks as does the special design of his clothing to act as a second skin. "Peaches and cream bud." Karl replied sarcastically as he cocked the hammers on his pistols.

"Good to see you still have your humor still, who are these girls?" Jon asked Karl, but Karl shrugs.

"No idea..."

A large and ear piercing crack echos out side the building accompanied by Jon Tyler falling to the ground with a grape fruit sized hole through his side, killing him before he hit the ground.

* * *

"Fuck!" Luna said, clutching a M95 .50cal Sniper rifle from a few blocks away.

"Nice shot! You missed!" Dusk taunted her sister through her head set.

"Fuck you! You can't even hit a giant with those pea shooters of yours at point blank range!" Luna spat referring to Dusk's killing of Benito, which she watched through Thermal scope from atop a building two or three blocks away. "At least I got that crazy Mac-10 guy while you and Thorn were playing 'Lets scare Karl'. Bet'cha that he's going to get those jackbooted stormtroopers of his down here and we can really have some fun!"

"Just more fun for us!" Thorn replied into her headset.

Luna took a deep breath and loaded another shell into the chamber of the Barrett M-95. "Best .50cal in the world frau Moss he says! Fucking German, The VKS was better." She grunted, referring to the rifle she used to kill the Governor as a superior weapon than what Sharpshot gave to her for this mission.

* * *

"Chyort!" Nikita yelled as a .50cal round raced past him and Karl who returned fire with his .50 Desert eagle and Karl with his Automatic Mauser pistols.

"Run!" Karl yelled as another shot broke through the concrete. The two charged down throw the meeting room were the corpses of Benito and Mac-10 laid on the ground covered in dust and blood. He couldn't think as he ran with the bear. Leaving his friends was hard, but he worried about his brother

"Where you going baby!? I was just getting started!" Dusk taunted Karl as the two men charged down a hallway were Nikita's goon were standing with AKSM, folding stock AK-47's, assault rifles in hand with urgent looks on their faces as their boss and Karl ran toward them.

"SHOOT! SHOOT!" Nikita yelled to them as Dusk appeared across the hall firing her suppressed M12 submachine guns wildly at the retreating figures, But Thorn burst through the wall and swiftly killed the goons just as Karl and Nikita reached the elevator and began their decent down toward the lower floors of the building.

* * *

"Damn! Luna, whats the count on the mobsters down stairs?" Thorn asked Luna over the headset.

"About fifty or so heading up stairs with some serious firepower." Luna replied as she looked through her scope into the building. "Want me to call in the guard and Valarie?"

"Ugh! That blow hard Grey!? As if! We can get these guys with out her!" Dusk hissed in discontent.

"What would you rather do Dusk? Face fifty guys ready for a fight and risk losing our lives or run to fight another day?" Thorn argued, "Coelian said that our powers are limited to Karl's and those magnum rounds already took the breath out of me. Do you really want to end up dead either way?"

"It doesn't matter Thorn!" Dusk shouted, "Master gave us these powers so we can get our revenge on Karl for ruining my life! I'm not letting some little side effect stop me!"

"It's all about you isn't Muffy?" Thorn asked her sister, "It's all about you, you, and you huh?"

Dusk snorted, pushing her sister aside as she walked to the elevator. Opened the elevator doors with her bare hands. With extreme levels of concentration, Dusk channeled her energy through her to her Black sun relic, a ring baring the black sun wheel on its face, and with all her might blew a massive jet of teal fire into the elevator shaft and began to melt the cables holding the old elevator.

"Ahhugh!" Dusk yelled after only a minute of burning the cables. She grabbed her heart as pain rushed through her body like lightening and fell to the ground in front of Thorn.

Thorn gave a sigh and picked her sister up by the shoulder and flew through the nearest window to regroup with Luna. "Bring them in, no quarter."

* * *

Karl turned on his throw away phone and called Roddy as the elevator made its slow decent toward the lobby.

"Roddy! Are you ok!?" Karl yelled frantically into the phone to his brother on speaker.

"About fucking time!" Roddy shouted rudely, "Those bitches locked me in the trunk and took daddy's colt! There on their way for you bro!"

"No shit! They tried, but failed. Get my guys ready and tell them to bring every thing they got to the Leer tower! No stops, got it?!" Karl replied.

"Already done! The boys are in a Dreadnaught and vans as we speak, ETA ten minutes."

"Fuckin-A!" Karl said as he hung up the phone.

"Dreadnaught?" Nikita asked Karl as he topped off his Desert Eagle with a fresh magazine.

"A Semi truck modified into a large mobile gun platform with an armored trailer with machine guns and the sleeper cab turned into a troop carrier." Karl replied as he closed his phone. "We're going to get some of my best men down here to get us out of here. I don't think those girls are in their right minds and your goons might be pushing up daises."

"Your organization is very strange, but who were those girls?" Nikita commented.

Karl chuckled, "Would you believe me if I told you that those were _Once, _or should I say _are, _the Hex girls?"  
"Would you believe that the blonde playing Jesse James with the machine pistols is my girlfriend?" He said as he slammed his fist against the metal doors putting a dent in the wall.

"_What?" _Nikita asked with a slight chuckle.

"Don't believe me, Eh? Don't blame you either, but see for yourself." Karl said as he retrieved a picture from his coat pocket of him and Dusk from three years ago.

Nikita was dumbstruck and laughed the idiotic laugh of disbelief as he handed Karl the picture. "As you Americans say, "Daaammnn boy!" xaxa!" He laughed. Karl couldn't help but laugh as well, but nothing could register in his head what all transpired. Jon Tyler, his childhood friend, is dead, The Hex girls are hunting him and some how they can preform superhuman abilities just like or better, Two of the leading members of the 'Magic city' lay dead on the top floor, and all of this reeks of Alexander Coelian like a dead body rotting in the summer sun.

Creaking and whining filled the room around Nikita and Karl. "Oh gott..." Karl said fearfully in German as the cables began to snap. "ON THE GROUND!" Karl yelled as he threw himself and Nikita onto the floor as the cables broke and the elevator began to fall at breath taking speed down to the Lobby.

The elevator crashed into the ground below at high speed... Dust covered the inside of the elevator, But Karl and Nikita were unharmed, a little bruised but alright. He threw Nikita off of him and looked to see a gap just wide enough for him to get out alive. But due to Nikita's titanic proportions, The bear could not escape. Karl peered out of the opening to see only darkness and rain outside of the lobby of the tower. He looked at Nikita and then at his hands, "Maybe I can rip the steel back a bit for him. I just can't leave him here." Karl thought to himself. Holstering his weapons he lifting himself through the opening and began to channel his energy to press the street ceiling of the elevator.

"Clear the building! If you find Colonel Dael bring him alive!" A bitchy and familiar voice demanded as the doors to the lobby flew opened with Paramilitary soldiers in red uniforms and Black armor burst through the door with Rifles in hand with a uppity female officer in a red and black techno suit barged into the room with a wrist laser based weapon at the ready. "Valerie Grey and her Rangers... Wonderful." Karl said to himself.

"Shit!" Karl whispered and dived into the shadows as foot steps drew closer toward their position.

"Ms. Grey! We have a live one!" One of the Rangers said as he and three other approached the destroyed elevator with Nikita laying on the floor of the elevator.

"Who are you?" Nikita asked as he tried picking himself up.

"Doesn't matter Ruskie," Grey said smugly as she turned her back to her men. "Boys take care of him and after that we can tear this place apart if the Hex girls haven't done it already."

The rangers laughed and loaded their AK's, They were going to execute Nikita. Karl wouldn't stand for it...

Leaping out of the shadows, Karl mutilated their bodies as he tore into their flesh with bare hands. Blood douched onto his coat and face, but evaporated as the fires of his powers. The blood, his and the rangers, rolled off like rain drops leaving it clean and untarnished. "Nikita!" Karl whispered as he used his strength to rip the metal back to give the Bear room to crawl out. "Are you ok?"

"How are you..." Nikita asked in surprise, but soon he threw up his hands. "Don't tell me! Don't tell me! I did not leave Gotham for more insanity! I'm getting out of here!"

"Me too Comrade, Me too." Karl agreed as he helped Nikita up and the two walked toward the empty front door. The bodies of Nikita's men littered the floor leaving yet another distinct impression on Karl. "Reminds me of the war." He thought to himself as they pushed the front doors aside.

As soon as they exited the building, massive spot lights from gun mounted black Hummvee's blinded the two men. Followed by a swarm of laser sights from automatic rifles of all nations in the hands of twenty armored and ready Rangers of Valarie Grey's 3rd Battalion. Valarie herself stood triumphantly in the middle with her wrist mounted laser trained on Karl, "So nice of you to show yourself Colonel!" She said gleefully before shifting toward a darker more malevolent tone. "Drop your guns on the ground and hands behind your back."

"Go to hell." Karl and Nikita replied in unison.

"Oh no, You'll be going soon. Make sure you tell the devil hello for me." Valerie replied. The roar of a turbo charged diesel engine and the thunder of a railway hoar echoed through the streets around them just as a large, heavily armored, Semi-Truck slammed into the two Hummvees, Tossing the hummvess down the street like child's toys. From the trailer came the soul shattering fire of MG-3 machine guns and G3 battle rifles as they moved down Rangers before Karl and Nikita as they dived out of the fire. Two black vans broke through the gates with Roddy jumping out to retrieve Nikita and Karl.

"LOS! LOS! LOS!" Roddy yelled into a radio and the van's and Semi truck raced off into the night, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

Valarie managed to survive the attack via the use of her hover board. She cursed them as they drove out of the city and yelled into the radio, "Target is leaving the city heading for point Bravo 98! I repeat BRAVO 98! All members of Battalion 43 converge on Point BRAVO 98! I want him alive!"


	9. Chapter 9: Hunted down

_**Sorry for the very very very VERY long wait, but life is just throwing on the pounds for me. But I will have to say that all of this time has given me more time to improve the quality of the story itself. Thank you all for your views :) R&R and F&F**_

_**With Love ~Dresner**_

* * *

Karl loaded his pistols as Roddy sat with him in the back of the lead van to explain what happen to him at the hands of the Hex girls, but Karl refused to believe any of it on the grounds that the whole incident might have been a ploy by an old enemy of his: Alexander Coelian.

"Brother I bet my life that those bitches were the fucking Hex girls. I've only seen girls like that on TV and those girls on the TV were the fucking Hex girls." Roddy asserted.

Karl closed the bolt of his nickle plated Mauser and shoved it against his brothers face, "You really want to make that bet dear brother?" He asked Roddy before returning the his and his Uncles pistols back to his holsters. Roddy turned pale white in shock of what Karl just did to him. Karl would never pull a gun on a friend, let alone his own brother! The secrets, the strange powers, and everything else was fine, a little disturbing, but Roddy couldn't have cared less. But pulling a gun on him sent Rodrick Dael over the edge.

"The fuck is wrong with you bro?!" Roddy exploded. "You've been acting like a fucking lunatic since that news shit about the fucking Hex girls and before that you were fucking hiding something! Was it this?! That your some freak with some kind of magic!? Karl I could give a shit less about some magic shit you got into when you were away! You know why?! BECAUSE I'M YOUR FUCKING BROTHER! WE CAME FROM THE SAME PAIR OF LEGS AND NOTHING WILL CHANGE THAT!"

"Nothing is wrong." Karl remarked in a monotone. "I know your my brother, but your in way over your head that your drowning in your own ignorance."

"IGNORANCE?!" Roddy scream. "Bullshit Karl, Bullshit! Whatever went on before you came out of the blue must have gotten a hit on you and these girls must have blown some serious cash to get to the level their at to get you. What did you do to get this much heat? Did you fuck a mob bosses wife or daughter or both?"

"Always thinking with your stomach or your dick, eh?" Karl asked him rudely. "No, I did nothing of the sort. But I can not stress enough about how you will not be able to even get your mind around some of the shit I could tell you. I can not, I repeat, I CAN NOT TELL YOU A FUCKING THING ABOUT WHAT I'VE DONE BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT UNDERSTAND AT ALL!"

"Herr Oberst," One of the Belkan soldiers from Karl's old outfit interrupted. "We have an issue in the front." The young man driving wore a dark grey uniform with Orthodox cross bars on the collar brooches with the rank of Rottenfuhrer (Corporal), a Grey field cap and grey wool gloves, The standard uniform of a Iron Guard (Crossing the Rubicon chp's 8-13) pointed toward a National Guard blockade with Stryker APC's and M-16 packing soldiers in full military gear. The boy's name was Adolf Lindwurm, The same young lad he met on the back of Erich's King Tiger during the War.

The young Corporal turned to Karl, "Herr Oberst, Should we stop or precede down another street?"

"Let the Dreadnaught break through, last thing we need to do is get caught in these streets with rioters around. I don't want to waste good seven six two on a bunch of pissed off rats." Karl said with a dark chuckle. The Rottenfuhrer then picked up a cell phone and informed the van and the Dreadnaught, the massive semi truck surged forward at blistering speed toward the barricade.

The Dreadnaught is a heavily modified Kenworth W900L with an enlarged sleeper cab turned into an armored cabin for Karl's men, holding six men, a turbo charged diesel engine, bullet proof body and axles and transmission, bullet proof tires, armor plating over the windows and doors, and a snow plow like attachment at the front of the truck to push junk and automobiles out of the way. The trailer was a modified flatbed with a steel plated barrier on the trailer itself reinforced by sandbags inside of the armored box. MG-3 crew mounted machine guns, a dual mount at the front and rear and four single mounts, two on the left and right, made the fire power of the dreadnaught and was supplemented by six other men with battle rifles, grenades, Rifle grenades, and M72 LAW's. In total the Dreadnaught held twenty three men in total including the driver and co-driver. The name itself derived from the first battleship, The HMS Dreadnaught, but the true reason for the name came from the fact that it was almost like a small battleship and had a crew to match it! The Saints of Sonthofen began building the Dreadnaught as soon as the riots began, Mainly to scare anyone who dared to challenge them if the Saints decided to go into the city for supply of any kind. The work accomplished on the truck was rather easy due to the fact that a majority of the parts, the truck itself, and the guns, were taken from the Gigagen convoys the bikers attacked for over two months. The idea came from the Vietnam era "Gun trucks", Heavily armed military trucks hastily made to protect convoys from attack, and the Dreadnaught from the movie _Death Race_, one of Karl and Roddy's favorite movies. The trailer was open topped which ran the risk of a police officer or, this case National Guard Troopers, could lob a grenade into the fighting compartment of the trailer and either kill or detonate the boxes of ammunition or LAW Anti-tank weapons. But the crewmen, exclusively the Belkan troops from the 4th PG Regiment, knew of the dangers that faced them while manning the guns of this titian of theirs.

And they wouldn't have it any other way, even at the reluctant behest of their commander.

The Dreadnaught captain, the driver, turned on the blinding LED spot lights atop the cab of the truck and began to blare the horn in long strides that both warned the men in the trailer to brace for impact and struck fear into the hearts of the National Guards men. The National Guard opened fire with their M-16 and M-249 machine guns, but the armor was to thick and bounced off. Almost like shooting at an elephant with a BB gun. The stunned soldiers began to scatter and take cover as the demon dreadnaught loomed ever closer until running head on into the Stryker throwing it into the air a few feet before crashing into a motley position of table furniture and sand bags the weekend warriors had constructed just hours before. The dual mounted MG-3 "Buzzsaw's" opened fire with incendiary rounds on to the wooden barricades and anything that was flammable to keep the National Guard's busy while they escaped in the confusion and darkness.

The van's followed close behind the Dreadnaught as the National Guards men rushed to put out the fires from the MG's before they reached the lumped over styker or any other flammable material and spread to the buildings around them. The convoy escaped the hell around them and into the safety of the darkness and soon onto the highway.

Towards home...

"Hmm I better make hast or I'll be left in the dust." A woman said as she watched from a shattered window above the street. The woman appeared to be in her forties by now with long black hair with streaks of grey running through her hair. She wore black skinny jeans, black top, and matching dress boots with several rings and necklaces adored on her hands and around her neck. Besides her long flowing black and grey hair, a VSS Vintorez sniper rifle hung lazily on her back with barrel pointed to the sky. A sign of a ready shooter. She looked into the sky to see Valarie Grey trailing just out of sit of Karl's convoy and gave a sly smirk as she took the rifle off of her back and took careful aim. Leading her target by a few feet and accounting for wind drift, She pulled the trigger and a slight thump followed before striking the left boaster on Valarie's hover board.

"That should give them sometime to prepare..." She said to her self as she threw on a black leather jacket as she headed for the door and into the night.

* * *

_**Hours later, 5:23am**_

* * *

Nikita was soon returned to his home in Mountain Brook before fighting their way through another angry mob and National Guards men. For hours they fought until turning down the cracked and broken paved road of the abandon community that lead to the farm.

"Dawns approaching Herr Oberst." One of his men said as they drove through the gate and onto their land.

"Hmm, Beautiful isn't it?" Karl asked the solider in Pea pattern fatigues who sat in the passenger seat of the van. The man older than Karl, in his late thirties, and wore the rank of Sturmscharfuhrer (Sergent Major). His name was Heinz Lindwurm, The father of Adolf Lindwurm and the same man who told his son the old saying of "Where medals grow."

"Ja sir." He replied. "Is Herr Kamov und lhr Brunder still sleeping?"

"Jawohl." Karl replied in a tired tone before giving a sleepy smile. "A night like that will really drain a man. You two remember, during the war, when we took Anfang back from the Oseanians?"

"Ja sir," One of the men, Untersturmfuhrer (Lieutenant) Dimitri Henrich, in the back said as he tilted his light blue officers cap from his eyes and fixed the collar on his swamp pattern jacket. "I was with the 5th parachute regiment in the first few hours of the battle in the forsaken city. The market at the towns center was almost our grave till that Konigstiger of Erich's blocked that accursed MG fire of those bastard Oseanians." Dimitri grew a little quiet, but shrugged it off before continuing on. "Bullet caught me in the ribs, but missed by lungs by a couple of millimeters. Thank gott that you got me out of their Herr Standartenfuhrer... I would have died there, and so would have my Fallschirmjagers."

"Took us all day and night to clear them out. Herr Oberst und meine father made sure I was not killed in that village..." Adolf replied as he took the bend in the road rather smoothly.

"Were you there at the defense of Sudentor, Karl?" Dimitri asked Karl.

"Nein, I didn't become apart of the war till Marlow and didn't become the legend until Sonthofen." Karl replied in a quiet tone as he lit a cigarette and passed one to each of his comrades. "I would have much rather stayed a regular officer, but fate has a funny way of taking a man through life. What am I complaining about? I'm alive, aren't I?" He said wearyingly.

The three men nodded in agreement. Their once young and lively Colonel now appeared haggard, beaten down, and dirty before them. Though he was only in his late twenties, time had not been good to Karl. War does this to a man, almost fast forwarding a man twenty or thirty years through his life till he looked as such. But through his body maybe worn and torn, the aggressiveness, bravery, arrogance, and a little recklessness still remained. As it did with all the men who followed Karl's lead once the Order started recruiting from the ranks of Belkan Army after the federation of Estovakia disintegrated just four years after the end of the Verusean War. Karl did whatever he could to get his Sonthofen outfit into the Order so they could serve again, But now he could only regret that decision now.

The Dreadnaught pulled away from the vans toward the yard, a scrap yard/chop shop that the Saints used to hold the captured vehicles from the raids on the convoys as well as repair their own rides, where the crew and vehicle were to rest and refit before another deployment was called for. The vans on the other hand stayed on course down the dived asphalt roads toward the farm to unload and rest before things became to deep. Outside of Karl's home and the surrounding trailers around the house stood thirty or so members of the Saints of Sonthofen near his home next to a pile of vests baring the clubs name.

"What is going on?" Adolf asked Karl as they pulled in to the cul-de-sac.

"It better not be what I think it is." Karl said as he woke his snoozing brother.

Roddy gave a scowl to his brother as Karl kicked his knees with his heavy boots but soon drew his attention to that of the angry crowd outside of their home and the patches on the ground. "They better not be what I think their doing..." Roddy said coldly as he watched the men gathered together and throw their vests on to the pile and began to pour kerosine on the pile. Roddy snatched the large Desert Eagle from Nikita's holster and charged out of the van, red faced and steaming from his ears, brandishing the custom hand cannon and screaming in every tone possible at the crowd of young and middle aged bikers.

The crowd screamed, cursed, and challenged the older Dael until the younger Dael and his private army materialized from black vans with rifles cradled in their arms. Roddy was barrier between the angry and dirty bikers and Karl's army, he soon realized as he turned around 360 degrees with the heavy pistol shaking in his hand from his uncontrollable rage. The bikers scream and taunted Karl's men with ethnic slurs, but the Belkan's only smirked and held their rifles tightly in their hands like true soldiers and not gun toting teenagers with hormonal issues trying to prove themselves.

"You brought the fucking feds on us!" They shouted and screamed. "I was only here for the guns and fun! But now this fucking army is on us! I'm out!" Some yelled.

Roddy scream bloody murder and slurs at the crowd of barbarians before him.

A thunderous boom echoed through the southern woods behind him and silenced everyone around him and the barbarians before him. He turned around to see his brother with Nickle plated pistol in the air with a smoking barrel oozing smoke from freshly fired gun powder. The 'ting-ting' of the brass casing echoed around them and bounced beautifully on the cracking concert at his feet. The wind swept through the forest, bowing dead leaves and dirt down the long abandon street and into the teeth of the stand off between the Bikers and Karl's army. The dawn was coming fast, but darkness still loomed above them with only the fading light of the moon and the amber halogen head lights brightening the dying hours of night.

"Defecting are we?" Karl asked the crowd of aggro ruffians before him as he lowered his pistol to his side.

The crowd looked at Karl with gaze of hungry wolves, cracking their knuckles and necks in preparation for a dual to the death with the cold glaring Belkan soldiers in front of them. The two groups stared each other down like sparing packs of wild animals, awaiting for one another to screw up so that they may make their move.

Karl gave an arrogant smile and opened his coat quickly, startling the bikers before him causing them to flinch and lose the staring match, to put away his pistol as a sign of peace. He rose his right arm to the hilly tree line near the cul-de-sac, "If your defecting then you must run away while you can." Karl told the crowd.

No one spoke and only looked at each other in confusion at the coated figure of Karl before them. Then Karl gave a sigh and looked to his armed men, "Kamaraden! Weapon check!" He yelled and the men checked their weapons and magazines promptly.

"I hate to repeat myself, but it seems I must be... Blunt with you all." Karl said in a sly and sadistic tone.

"Run..." Karl said in an icy tone that set shivers down the spines of even his battle harden panzer grenadiers.

The bikers hearts sank in their bloated and fur covered chests as the last few letters slid off of Karl's tongue. They panicked and ran into the forest, ducking and zig zaging away from imaginary bullets that their burnt out minds projected in their panicking state. Roddy watched in disgust as his orginal bikers, the ones that he himself personally, ran into the woods like scared rabbits. The same men he drank beer with, smoked dope with, and got into many a bar fight with over the course of a few months.

Those men were his brothers, his comrades, his other family... Men that would stick by your side no matter what...

Roddy yelled in scorn before firing the .50 caliber pistol wildly toward the retreating bikers as they retreated in terror away from his younger brother. The shots soon fell silent as the gun ran dry... Leaving only the rustling of the herd of fear filled bikers as they scampered away into the forest and into the light of the coming dawn.

* * *

The Bikers ran through the forest as fast as they could until crossing over the railway tracks that lead toward a field that separated the tracks from the main road. They breathed a sigh of relief once they saw the tall grass of the field and speeding cars racing down the main road. The group of twenty men stagger across the field with high hopes of reaching the road and begin again, but something wasn't right about the situation that only a handful of the bikers realized.

The loud and sharp crack of PKP light machine guns soon destroyed whatever remained of the Bikers hopes of beginning again as the field became their grave yard...

Out of the tale grass and surrounding trees came one hundred armed men from the Stalkers and Rangers, followed up by two BMP-2 APC's, A T-72M tank, and Valeria Grey on another hover board of hers.

Valeria laughed, "Is this the best that freak can send!?" She laughed arrogantly. "Push on! I want him in my hands as soon as the sun rises!"

* * *

"The fuck was that for?!" Roddy shouted as he got right into Karl's face. But Karl simply pushed him aside and walked toward the house, "Had to send a message." Karl said lazily as he reached for the door only to be intercepted by an irate Roddy.

"Send a fucking message?!" Roddy exclaimed to his nonchalant brother.

"Don't get snippy at me. I wasn't the one shooting _at _cowards." Karl remarked in a detached and emotionless way.

"What?!" Roddy shouted in frustration at his brother. But soon gave up on the argument and shoved his brother, "The fuck happen to you over the last few days? Hell If we're going to ask that, What happen to you over the last FOUR YEARS?!" Roddy yelled, his anger and dismay pouring from his soul. "What happen to my young brother who was to busy with getting his shit done and doing the right thing? What happen to the brother who stayed up late into the night helping me with my G.E.D practice tests and only asked that I pass? What happen to the brother who said that he would come back for me after the shit that... That bitch Wendy ruined our lives and that everything would be alright!?"

Karl said nothing and only looked into Roddy's eyes with indifference. Roddy soon came face to face with Karl whispered to him, "What happen to the brother that promised to bring Shela home?"

"Things change dear brother..." Karl remarked before striking his brother across the jaw with a right hook. "But they always seem to stay the same."

Roddy recovered and threw two punches to Karl gut which starts a brawl between the two brothers...

The fight itself was unforgiving as the two threw punch after punch, kick after kick, and blow after blow until the two began to spill blood on the ground. But something rumbled in the woods near by that made the dueling brothers stop trying to kill each other...

The Belkan's knew the sound all to well... Clattering metal, roaring motors, and the rhythmic sounds of hydraulics...

Karl's eyes grew wide and searched the tree line toward the north and the road to the west for the source of the sounds, but all he could think of was running to the vans screaming one word...

"PANZERS!"

The trailer closest to the house turned into a pile of smoldering metal and wood as a 125mm High explosive shell from the T-72 broke through the window and detonated near it's propane heating system, causing fire to spread toward the main house. From the tree line came a massive, almost titian like, T-72 Battle tank covered with foliage and tree branches covering the hull and turret emerged like an enraged bear. The heavy tank hosed the cul-de-sac from the face of the hill side to the east with it's heavy and light machine guns, killing three of Karl's men as they rushed to take cover near the opposite treeline to the south. From the hillside to the north, where the bikers coward away, a wild BMP appeared and stormed down the hillside firing it's guns wildly. But the driver could not bring the 14 ton rhino to a halt and slid down the hillside and crashed into the low foundation of the Dael home, causing the building itself to collapse onto the BMP and ensnaring the vehicle in the rubble. The Belkans spread out behind the rubble of the trailers, fallen trees, and down the lower hillside to take up position to fight of the obvious accompanying infantry that followed the enemy armor.

Roddy ran toward the Vans after his brother, knowing that Karl was retrieving the LAW launchers from the rear of the van to give his men an even playing field against the Enemy armor. "Karl!" He yelled as he saw his brother taking a large crate of LAW rockets in his arm and another smaller box marked "RPG-6 Grenades".

"Grab the other box!" Karl yelled as the latter van was tossed over by another shell from the T-72 and rattled with 30mm cannon fire from the BMP.

Roddy man handled the crate of rockets and together the brothers ran toward the other hillside, barking orders in a mix of German and English to rally on him and to make a fighting retreat. Sweat poured down Karl's brow as he ran with the heavy boxes of weapons as gun and cannon fire whizzed passed him and his brother. The infantry emerged from the rear of BMP and the tree line to engage Karl's men, once again catching them off guard and losing two more of his men. The brother leaped down the hillside and slid down with crates following them close behind, as did the Belkans who threw smoke and hand grenades over the hillside to disorient and slow down the attackers.

Passing fallen trees, cut down by the withering fire from the 30mm automatic cannon and MG fire from the attacking army, the Belkans and the Dael brothers tightened up their grouping and count the remaining bodies of men who remained. A majority of Karl's loyalists, 36 men in total, were holding the scrap yard and were surly, Karl hoped, that they were coming to their aid or at least preparing for an attack of some kind. The remaining nine men on the other hand were, for all they could conciser, were cut off from their main force and out gunned tremendously by superior fire power and armor.

The 11 men, including Karl and Roddy, huddled around a collection of fallen trees thirty yards away from the hillside to lay an ambush for the coming army. Passing around LAW rockets and AT Grenades, Karl set about positioning his men to form a kill zone in the woods.

Five men set up with Rifles, machine guns, and rockets in a semicircle with two MG-3 at the far ends to cover one another as well as riflemen with Law rockets. The other six set up away from the MG's on their flanks to cover them from being flank and annihilated. This was done due to the weak penetration of the 66mm M72 LAW and the AT grenades short range. The thick armor of the T-72 at the front would simply shrug off the rocket and grenades without trouble, but the veteran 'Panzerknacker's' (Tank killers) knew of the weak spots of every tank. That being the Rear and side of the beasts due to their weak armor, especially in the rear where the engine and possible, depending on the nationality and design, the transmission. The weak war head of the AT grenades on the engine deck would destroy the engine and possibly hit the fuel tank, while the LAW will punch through the side of the hull and hit the ammunition in the floor of the soviet made T-72.

Using the thick brush and the cover of the kudzu around them, Karl and his men laid in wait as the sounds of approaching armor echoed through the forest. The cold morning air sent chills down Roddy's spine, as did the idea of getting blown to bits by tank shells. He turned to his brother, Karl, who laid on his stomach over looking a fallen tree with a LAW rocket on his back and Pistols in hand. It was still dark for the most part thanks to the thick tree cover, a god sent if these attackers have a small drone or a plane watching over them.

"_If they got tanks then they must have something watching us from the sky" _Roddy thought to himself as he took a couple of AT grenades from the box and shoved them in his belt.

Karl looked over to Roddy as the outline of a tank appeared in the distance, "Roddy, Arty, Dmitri, Heinz! On me!" Karl said, getting up from his position to a crouch. "Get up and come with me. Maybe we can get close enough to hit them in the rear."

"Just like hunting partisans." Dmitri agreed as he loaded another magazine into his G3 rifle before the group ran off with their Commander through a large collection of Kudzu to protect them.

As they walked through the brush Roddy stuck close to his brother with his hand clutched on a AT grenade. "Karl." He whispered as they walked forward, the sound of diesel engines and boots growing louder and louder as they took closed in. "Who... Who are these guys?"

Karl looked back to his brother and then to the oncoming column...

He lets the LAW slide off of his shoulder and handed it to his brother. "Safety is already off, Just pull the rear tube back, aim for the engine, and press the button on the top. Simple stuff..." He said, ignoring his brothers question in a hasty voice.

"Aim for the rear of the Tank or the middle of the rear vehicle. Hit the transmission and it should burn the fuckers out or at least stop him from moving. Then hit his engine deck with the AT grenades." Adolf said, pointing to the gear at the rear of the tank. "Those bolshevik panzers will burn nicely if you hit them there!"

Roddy extended the tube of the weapon and made a brief look through of the sights before readying for Karl signal of some kind...

Adrenalin pumped through Karl's body as he watched the platoon of escort infantry walking lazily with weapons cradled in their arms or pressed against their chests. Some wore balaclavas over their faces, face paint, or bonnie hats, all wore Russian pattern camouflage of the Partizan variety, and carried the latest in Russian small arms in the form of AK-12 assault rifle and the PKP machine gun with all forms of sighting systems, grips, grenade launchers, and whatever was popular at the time. Even in the dark he could still see the men scanning around themselves, some smoking, and others just talking in low whispers to one another.

They were Stalkers, men who bared the dangers of the exclusion zone of Chernobyl and lived to tell the tale. The pet battalion of Alexander Coelian...

Karl suspicions were true...

Gripping his pistols tightly in his hands as the column lumbered past them and drew ever more into the kill zone. His men kept their battle rifles trained on men as they walked slowly past them. Roddy readied the LAW rocket and brought his sights on to the rear of the T-72 in anticipation...

The dawn light tore away the darkness and began to break through the tree line. The bright yellow sun seemed to rise from the grip of the darkness like an angel rising out of the pit of hell itself. The sun rose in the east, behind the backs of the awaiting Panzergrenadiers and in the faces of the approaching aggressors. With the sun in the eyes of the enemy and the element of surprise on their side, Karl launched himself from the brush firing his pistols on full automatic to gain the attention of the Stalkers and cause confusion among the ranks.

The MG-3's opened up with their punishing 1200 rounds a minute rate of fire and the accurate rifle fire from FN FAL and G3 battle rifles in the hands of the trained marksmen of the Belkan armed forces. The armor focused on the direct threat from front, but proved fatal...

Roddy charged out as his brother fired his automatic pistol into groups of infantry and Dimitri, Adolf, and Heinz around him with battle rifles and AT grenades in hand. He paused briefly and quickly looked down the sight of the LAW. Through the peep sight he could see the rear of the T-72 and the BMP slowing lurching behind the tank, firing the 30mm chain gun in bursts toward the heavy fire of Belkans. He aims at the rear sprocket, the main gear that turns the tracks of the tank, the same spot Adolf 'Aryt' Lindwurm pointed out to him, from a range of Roddy puts all his strength into his fingers and a loud BANG! followed by another BANG! as the rocket flew 23 yard toward its target, slamming into the side armor near the engine. The HEAT round burned through the engine and the explosion from the warhead itself launched bits and pieces of the engine in all directions like a landmine. The tank came to an abrupt halt and was punished with three more hits from the rocket teams set around the machine gun nests. A total of five rockets hit the T-72 and caused a massive fire that made the crew bailout imminently, which were in turn mowed down by rifle and machine gun fire.

Roddy threw the tube off of his shoulder and reached for the RPG grenades in his belt to attack the BMP, but two more LAW rockets turned the BMP into a smoldering wreak.

With the Tanks destroyed and the soldiers annihilated, Karl and his small group ran back to the cover of the MG nests. Roddy felt a rush he never felt before, a mix of fear, adrenalin, and achievement. "Did you fucking see that!? I knocked out a fucking tank!"

"Ja Ja, I remember when I popped my first cherry." Dimitri taunted, checking his ammo to see he was down to two loaded magazines.

"Shut up you two." Karl interjected before the two began to argue. "Roddy, the scrap yard is just a few yards away. Get the rest of my men, stock up on ammo, and ready for my call. We got to bushwhack these guys and get the fuck out of here! We'll lead them to the dam by the lake and trap them in the creek from the front and you get them in the back..."

Roddy protested, "Why are you sending me?!"

Karl grunted and grabbed his brother by his shirt, "BECAUSE IF ONE OF US DIES TODAY THEN THE OTHER AND CONTINUE ON!" Karl then shoved Roddy into the dirt. Standing over his brother he caste a shadow over him as the coat tails blew in wind making his tall and imposing figure ever more intimidating. His pistol gleaming in the dawn light added to the fear factor, as did the cold gaze in his eyes... But something about his eyes cried out "I don't want to do this anymore" could be seen past the hard and iron like exterior. Behind the coat and guns was his brother, the real Karl Dael that Rodrick knew when they were only kids living together in a broken home.

"Go.." Karl whispered as a loud crack broke the silence around them...

Karl was thrown to the ground and onto his back, doused in his own blood from a heavy caliber rifle.

* * *

"One down..." Luna whispered to herself as she loaded another shell into her M95 fifty caliber rifle. Luna laid prone on a far off hillside looking down into the forest with her IR scope. "One more and this is..."

Three shots from a light caliber rifle destroyed her scope and caused her to retreat with her rifle to the ambush point.

From afar sat the woman in black with her VSS at the ready. She sat in a tree with full view of Luna's spot through her PSO scope with a smile as Luna retreated into the forest. "Run little rabbit, run..." She said as she turned her attention to the wounded Karl laying on the ground.

* * *

"KARL!" Roddy yelled as his men began to give some form of first aid to their commander. They tore off his signature trench coat and the black tunic under it to reveal a large gunshot wound through shoulder. They rapped the tunic around the wound and pour water and alcohol on the wound to clean it out. Karl was in shock and yelled to Roddy once more to run to the scarp yard. Roddy scream in defiance of Karl's orders, but soon the wounded brother began to fire shot at his brothers feet scream "RUN! RUN NOW!"

Roddy reluctantly ran into the woods to the scrap yard, just as enemy enforcements began to open fire on their position.

Dimitri barked for covering fire as Heinz and Arty picked up their commander on their shoulders and began to retreat toward the near by dam. Dimitri stayed behind with the machine guns and kept on fighting until a bullet caught him in the throat... Drowning him in his own blood...

The Father and Son carried Karl until reaching the creek dam and Knox branch creek. The three collapsed from running and fell down the hill and into the creek below. But they picked one another up and continued on...

Karl became delirious and began to stumble, almost falling into the water at his knees and passing out in the water. But Arty and Heinz caught him and held on to him as they reached the other side of the creek. The men fell onto the shoreline and tried their best to keep Karl awake as long as they could and keep his bleeding down.

"Why isn't he regenerating?" Arty asked his father frantically as he cupped water in his hands and splashed it on Karl's wounds.

"Iron bullets..." Heinz said as the sound of angry Ukrainian and Russian echoed from the other end of the creek.

From the forest came fifty Stalkers with rifles at the ready and from the sky came Valeria Grey on her hover board with an arrogant, shit eating, grin on her face. "You have no wear to go, you that right?" She told the father and son as they reared for their rifles on their backs.

"No no no!" Thorn squealed cheerfully as her, Dusk, and Luna descended down from the treeline with razor like finger tips that cut through the slings of the rifles. The rifles fell on the ground and Dusk stepped on them with her custom M-12's in her hands and pointed at the Father and Son. "Naughty naughty boys! I'm going to have to take your toys away!" She snickered as Luna and Thorn kicked them over on to their stomachs and handcuffing them.

"AWW! Their the only two left!" Dusk whined sadistically. "Hey at least we got the other forty eight! I was just about to get bored after whacking those gangsters in the city." Thorn said with a chuckle.

"Oh please, you girls aren't the one who killed the big man himself." Luna said with pride as she point at Karl laying on the ground.

"OH DON'T FUCKING! AHHAUGH!" Valeria screamed in disapproval as she landed near the Hex girls. "You weren't suppose to fucking kill him! Stupid rookie bitches! Now Coelian and the Master is going to fuck us all! Ugh..."

Valeria called over her stalkers and told them to take care of the Father and Son, saying that they were "of no use to the plan."

Karl rose his head as the darkness around him began to close in on him. The loss of so much blood was making him light headed and incoherent, but he could hear the whiny voice of Valeria Grey barking orders to her men. At his feet he could see a group of three girls standing together in black and brandishing all kinds of exotic weaponry, They were the same girls that calmed they were the Hex girls but Karl disagreed that notion completely.

In front of him he could see Arty and Heinz on their knees with guns placed at the back of their heads.

"Now!" Valeria yelled as the executioners fired their sidearms into the back of Arty and Heinz's heads. Their bodies falling face first into the creek and kicked into the water where they floated down stream.

Karl roared to life, catching everyone off guard, and tackling Valeria into the stream with his hands rapped firmly around her throat as he attempted to end her life once and for all.

Only in her panicking state, Valeria could only see one emotion coming from Karl's eyes: Vengeance. As the water filled her lungs and slowly began to drown her she began to see her whole life flash before her eyes. She regretted it all... But it was to late as she let out her final breath throat her crushed and water filled wind pipe, Her last site being the vengeful gaze of Karl Dael through the clear water of the stream just as the sun took to the sky...

Karl was attacked, beaten, and knocked out by the Hex girls who were still squabbling amongst themselves until finally they received a call from their master to return with Karl back to their hideout.

"See Luna! You didn't do shit yet again!" Dusk boasted as she socked Karl once more before throwing him on her shoulders.

"Fuck you Dusk." Luna remarked as the girls took off for Downtown Birmingham.

* * *

_**Meanwhile with** **Roddy...**_

* * *

"Their... Their..." Roddy gasped as the bodies of the other Belkan's littered the ground around the scrap yard.

"Dead, yes." A strong female voice remarked from behind him. "But not in vain."

Roddy turned around to see an older woman in black holding a VSS Sniper rifle to his chest. "You... You did..."

"This? No." She remarked coolly. "I kill monsters, those who are not human or those who have proven their worth. These men were human, more than you'll ever be Rodrick Dael."

Roddy was insulted by the woman's remark, but soon became confused. "Are you that one broad that Karl use to talk about? The witch?"

The woman smirked and shouldered her weapon, "Their is just something about you Dael's that makes me smile." She said kissing Roddy on the cheek. "You remind me of your Father when we were running together in Gotham way back when." She said with a giggle.

"Who are you?" Roddy asked the strange woman.

"Claudia." She replied. "Claudia Marlin."


	10. Chapter 10: Depth of your Soul

_**Warning: A very philosophical and angst filled chapter along with Violence and verbal abuse. **_

_**I worked very hard on this chapter to make up for my time away. Thank you for reading my friends! :) Gigagen belongs to Grumpydrawer, please read Bad lands rock concert and his new story the Glacatic Park.**_

_**With Love ~Dresner**_

* * *

Blow after blow struck the weary Karl Dael as the interrogator beat him to a pulp in the cast iron chair he was lashed to with leather bands and chains. The beats had gone on for several days and nights along with other forms of interrogation. But the large and brutish Russian wasn't the first one who was tasked with "Straightening out" Mr. Karl Dael. This one was the fourth as the other three found themselves slaughtered and mutilated after Karl broke free from bondage and attempted to escape before a special guest arrived in his cell.

The cell itself located in a small building just outside the towering blast furnace. It was just a metal shack with no windows with only a dimming light bulb swaying above the Iron chair that Karl was bound to.

The Russian took hard blows to Karl's body with a mix of his bare hands and a lead pipe, targeting weak spots and everything he could to make him scream.

But Karl never spoke, not even a wimpier as he sat in the chair with blood oozing from his mouth and nose.

"You are strong for an American." The Russian told him as he cracked his fists for one more blow to Karl's stomach and one to his heart. "Americans would have broke as soon as I started. But you... Three day its been, yet you do not break. Even with such a serious wound."

The man walks over to a table where a mix of instruments such as knives, pipes, hammers, car battery, and other tools of torture either covered in blood or immaculately cleaned. Near all these tools were Karl's personal items including his coat, blood soaked tunic, Field cap, and his guns. Karl was stripped down to only his trousers and boots for the interrogation. The man picked up his Uncle's Mauser pistol and twirled it around his finger like a cowboy before pointing it at Karl with a chuckle.

"Before Comrade Jericho recruited me from the VDV, I was a solider in Chechnya. Years I fought against the Chechen... I remember finding a pistol like this on the dead body of an older Chechen. I carried it for the remainder of my service until I lost it." He said with a sadistic smirk as he put the pistol back in the holster. "Comrade Coelian does not intend keep you long. Maybe he will let you spare with me before you die. But each way I will still have two pretty pistols to call my own. What do you say, Comrade Dael?"

Karl only stared at him and spat blood onto the floor at the Russian's feet. The beast of a man grunted in disapproval, "This is becoming enjoyable, Comrade." The man said sadistically, but was surprised as the metal door swung open and five figures walked through the door. Three female, a slender male with a cane, and a figure in a wheelchair.

"Chernov!" A malevolent voice said as the man in the chair came closer into the light. "Your done for the night."

The Russian nodded before giving one more hard punch to Karl's jaw, "Da comrade Coelian."

Alexander Coelian wore his signature red suit with red tie and black under shirt. His hair was slicked back and gleamed in the dying light of the light bulb above him. Coelian was the personification of evil in Karl's mind and the main figure that had apposed him for years when he joined the Order. Karl was the reason for Coelian's handicapped state (Crossing the Rubicon Chapter 13) and Coelian had tried his hardest to kill Karl for revenge for taking away his legs.

"Karl Dael..." Coelian hissed with an evil grin. "I'm sure Chernov has treated you... Fairly in the last few days. Has he?"

Karl said nothing and only gave the stare of death at the figure in the wheel chair. Coelian gave a frown and turned to his friend with the cane, "Cyrus, will you please aid me in my conversation. I do not think Karl understands what I am saying anymore."

From the shadows came a young man dressed in a black suit made out of fine Italian leather and human flesh stepped into the dim light with a slight grin. "Karl my boy, are you home? Or are the lights on and no one is there?" Cyrus Amsel asked in his thick Louisianian accent as he twirled his cane.

"Ben killed you..." Karl said in monotone, but shocked at the sight of the enemy that drove him to insanity in the swamp. (Dawn)

Amsel shrugged his shoulders and chuckled, "It may seemed that way, but not completely." He replied calmly.

"Karl, you know of the Ghost Zone and its various realms yes?" Coelian asked Karl arrogantly, But Karl snorted and Coelian continued on. "Of course you know! After foiling one phase of my plan to gain wealth of my own, I sent out another team from Valeria's rangers to find a specific relic with in the zone itself..."  
Coelian pointed to Amsel's cane.

"Just as a mans soul can be channeled into a picture, I channeled my energy into my cane for safe keeping. After Ben ended my material life I laid in wait for someone to stumble upon my favorite piece." Amsel said in a long southern drawl. "But then ol Vladdy stumbled up on my cane, but he simply traded it for some information to a fellow in the Zone... I believe he was that rather strange man by the monicker of "The Box Ghost." A rather misunderstood gentleman, but not very bright I must say."

"Vladimir Masters was one of my main leads in the ghost zone, due to his experience with the Zone itself. But the man had his own motives and agenda... Something that I would rather not speak of at this moment." Coelian remarked coldly. "But never the less, he did after all lead Valeria's rangers to the location of some of the zones most exotic relics and treasures. The cane was only a added bonus to the hall aboard Youngblood's fleet. A shame you destroyed them though..."

"After you destroyed the Ghostly Navy, My cane was sent into the void that was zone and eventual found its way back to the mortal world..." Amsel said with a hiss.

"And into my hands..." Coelian finished the sentence with a twisted simile, but it soon faded away and replaced with a frown. "But with you destruction of my main scheme came terrible, Terrible news... The doctor had a change of heart after the venture and his subsequent return to his un-mangled self after a discovery of ours sometime ago. We were cut from Gigagen funding and shut down for good... But I had a few loyalists, and a friend, to change the tide to my favor." He said looking over to Cyrus with a malevolent grin.

"Ms. Grey, rest her soul, was one of the main components in my plan. As was the dark one you so do adore." Amsel said with a dark chuckle.

"She apart of your plan to? Or am I miss hearing the tense you were referring to?" Karl asked them in a hostile tone as Amsel stuck him with the ivory handle of his cane.

"You mean little old me?" Amsel asked in Dani's warm and little girlish voice as he transformed into her. "The real Danielle is in the realm of the Far Frozen, training to become the next defender of the Ghost zone. I've played you like a fiddle since I found you."

"Amsel proved to bring invaluable intelligence to my plan, as well as a fine agent to bring the chaos to this town and to bring my newest cards into my deck." Coelian turned to the three female figures and motioned them to come toward the light. The girls removed their face masks and revealed themselves to an enraged Karl Dael to be the one and only hex girls.

Karl thrashed in his chair like a ensnared animal fighting for itself life and howling in a mix of English and German until Luna swiped him with a round house kick to his face.

"Why so irate dear brother?" Amsel asked him sarcastically. "Why must you be so hostile and use such fowl language around these beautiful specimens of woman hood? They are after all one of us now."

"What do you mean 'One of Us?!'" Karl shouted, blood shooting out of his mouth as he yelled.

Amsel removed his coat and undershirt to reveal a more simpler Black Sun wheel burned into his flesh, "One of the Thule, dear brother... We are Thule royalty and they, my brother, are now are maidens..." Amsel said in a almost religious tone. "I gave them a taste of our power and now they are enlightened..."

"The girls were taken here to the mill and were 'persuaded' to accept Amsel as their master in exchange for the Power of the Black Sun." Coelain explained. "Though this form of the Black Sun is more tailored to my liking with the addition of a more modern form of the MK-ULTRA programing, rather painful process for the more stubborn member of the group. But Ms. Sally Mcknight soon folded rather quickly once I made mention of her mother. Such a terrible terrible thing that emission was on her, She couldn't even remember seeing her mother in that forsaken Asylum..." (Crossing the Rubicon)

Alexander soon took a deep breath and continued on blissfully as he recounted the found memories of torturing Thorn and turning her over to his side of things. "But the treatments and the promises soon won her over and soon she turned to me. Luna was already in my deck as soon as she laid eyes on Cyrus and all he had to do was snap his fingers and she to folded. But Dusk... She was different..." Coelian's voice soon turned haunting and rather surprised as he recounted his episode with Dusk.

"She was scared, but soon we told her about you. Then... Die Fluten Kommen, The flood came, The flood of raw emotions. Fear, Love, Hate, and Scorn. Emotions that we capitalized on and soon we turned those pint up emotion hiding just below her skin into the fuel for her power... And she bloomed into a beautiful belladonna." Coelian laughed, as did the girls.

"You... You used them... You turned them into... into..." Karl said scandalized.

"Into you, Into my trump cards." Coelian finished for him. "Cards that I used, along with the rest of my deck of cards, to turn this city into a battle ground for two reasons." Coelain said, referring to his army of ex-Brimstone soldiers as a card deck. "1, To uproot you, your gang, and all the surrounding gangs around the city to make my mercenaries the top commodity in the region and cause enough havoc and destruction for my various companies to cash in on. and 2, To gain my new cards for another scheme of mine..." Coelian explained as he motioned his hand to the Hex girls who smirked arrogantly.

"That would be?" Karl asked him.

"You'll see my boy... You'll see..." He replied coldly. "With this town now leaderless because of my team here, I believe the intelligence services of the world will now begin to recognize my genius as a tactical planner and with my new team I can be able to change the world to anyone's, maybe even my own, fitting."

Karl laughed out loud, "You arrogant pig! Your really think a battalions worth of men, a demon, and a few knock offs of me can change anything in this world? Your living a pipe dream, a lie. Your short sightedness in the matter only proves that you not the genius you calm to be. The powers at be may be idiots beyond all calculation, but they will crush you without question."

"That, my friend, is where we differ. I have may ways of persuading my enemies to join me. Wither I simply pay them off, dispose of them, or simply have Cyrus overshadow them it does not matter how many stand against me as they will all fall before me." Coelian replied, his hubris sucking the oxygen right out of the room. "Face it Karl, I have beaten you. But this is not my goal. Through you have put up a rather honorable fight, even killing one of my most experience field operatives, it was all in vein. I respect your gallant effort and with that I shall extend the hand of friendship to you with a proposition, a proposition that you can not deny." He raved as he drove his electric wheel chair close to the bound Karl Dael who starred him down like a lion at an aggressor.

In a hushed whisper Coelian made his offer, "Join with me, Karl Dael. I'm willing to put away all our differences under one condition..." Coelian's voice was full of excitement and contempt as he licked his lips in triumph. "Find your brother and slay him like the dog he is... Prove your loyalty to me, by making this simple choice." Coelian's breath reeked of alcohol and his eyes were bloodshot, a sigh of a die hard alcoholic. His hands were glittery and his teeth stained a bright yellow from chain smoking thick cigars. Past his tie he could see a scar that appeared to run down his chest, yet another sign of failing health.

"Go to hell." Karl replied, spitting blood into the zombie like man that Coelian had become.

He wiped the blood from his face and took a deep, disappointing breath, before he out a spontaneous scream in a blood rage and reached out to strangle Karl. But Luna and Thorn grabbed him by Coelian's chair to pull him away. He curses at the girls and Amsel before screaming, "DUSK! Finish this... This... Ungrateful pig! He is no use to us!"

Dusk looks over to Coelian as he is pulled away by order by her sisters as he ranted and raved like a mad man as he closed on to the door, To Amsel who gives her a uninterested gaze and then a nod, and then to Karl stared at her in contempt. "Go my child." Amsel said as he disappeared into the darkness, leaving only Karl and Dusk the only living souls in the room.

"It's been awhile honey." Dusk said in a aloof tone.

"What gives you the right to address me? Who gave you the right to speak?" Karl hissed.

"Oooh someone is a little sore loser!" She taunted him, putting her hands on her hips.

"I'm not the one who gave up my identity for the empty promises and some fancy toys." Karl scolded her.

Dusk rose her eye brow and unholstered one of her M-12's and began to spin it on her finger like a wheel, "I don't know what your talking about." She replied with an arrogant smirk as she admired her gun.

Karl chuckled and shook his head in shame, "The powers may have changed you, but your still the same naive and ignorant valley girl who carries a chip on her shoulder because the world decided to throw her into the gutter. A girl that would do anything for attention..."

Dusk felt a blow to her ego and grew angry at the harsh words that Karl struck her with. She was caught off guard and attempted to counter with a clever comment, "Nothings changed baby, only that I'm on the winning side for the first time in my life. The band and the parties were fun, but the rush I get from this gig with Coelian is just..."

"Indescribable?" Karl interjected.

"Yeah! I mean I'm stronger, faster, and just fucking better than I ever way!" Dusk said with glee.

Karl gave a dark and malevolent chuckle, "Just wait till you burn out... Just wait till you find you limits and you'll see how fun it is... Just wait till your thrown into the fray and forced to do things that even you, a cold heartted bitch like yourself, would shirk from. I was lucky enough to go to war before joining the order, but it still never numbed me from all the horror I caused." Karl said in a regretful tone.

"Psh! As if!" Dusk replied haughtily as she drew both her M-12's and began to show off like a teenager after seeing an action movie. "Nothing can get to me! I'm unstoppable! You saw me and the girls at the tower, how we kicked your ass and those Russians into the fucking ground. Plus I read your file and your not exactly a saint! You killed some of the most powerful ghosts in the zone in cold blood with a smile on your face. What does that say about you?"

"Sometimes we do the wrong things for the right reasons, while others do the opposite. I was one of those who did the right things for the wrong reasons." Karl replied. "At the time I thought I was doing the right thing. Killing them was an achievement in its own right, but in reality it was for a materialistic cause for a little reptile in a chair. I regret serving that reptile for all those years. I should have ignored Claudia and returned home early and forgot everything I had done..."

The last half of that sentence tugged at Dusk's heart and perked her interest, but she kept her emotions to herself and kept her shield of arrogance at the forefront. "So what? He made you whack a few ghosts and you feel bad that you killed them for cash? What the fuck, that makes no sense." She said rudely.

"Money is nothing to me." Karl replied deeply. "But the murder of those spirits is nothing to be proud of due to the fact that they were only doing what their subconscious told them to do in their after life. That being to provoke the good into killing them so that they fulfill their vision: The vision of their own corpse. Contradictory, yes. But what they did was not out of the need for shelter or need to validate their identity, But to validate their souls and prove their own worth to themselves. The truth is that they do not want to live at all, they are the lovers and worshipers of death only wanting for some virtuous soul to bring an end to their retched existence. This is why evil can not be appeased, whatever you give them its not what they want. At the depths of their soul they want you to end their miserable existence. For it is more unbearable to them, then their life could ever be to you. But they can not kill themselves directly for to do so is to look upon this ultimate contradiction."

"Huh?" Dusk asked, Karl's knowledge flying right over her head.

"Evil wants you to prove their evaluation of the world and bringing you into his fold. He wants you to prove his evaluation of existence in that reality is a nightmarish place devoid of rationality, meaning, and value. Evil wants you to surrender your soul to his world view in the simplest form. I slayed them, yes, but I only proved evil to be correct in their evaluation of the world. Reality itself is an ongoing nightmare that we are forced to live in where the people would rather listen to a talking head on a screen speaking of some crack addict slut or a steroid popping pretty boy than worrying about the decay around them. They would rather watch a reality show and worship these so called "Demigods" than to open their eyes and see the corruption around them. It makes me feel ashamed to be human, or at least half since I walked the meadows of The Summerland. But what do you know, Muffy St. James? For all I know your just another chicken shit slave and even more since those reptiles broke your mind and corrupted your already damaged soul." Karl raved with religious passion. "I seen things you would not believe, things that would shake the very foundation of your existence, things that would open your eyes to the would around you so wide that it would strike you blind..." Karl voice soon turned to a loud whisper. "Things that would make you rethink everything you ever believed in... Things that would make you look at your pretty little pistol a little more fondly... But you don't see me still in the service of man who's own organs reject the corruptions of the body that contains them! You don't see me selling my soul for silver and power..."

"Your fucking crazy, what does this have to do with anything? Your a fucking murder, a liar, a cheat, and a worthless bastard that wouldn't come back to me. A coward who ran away with some witch to go live a life of adventure!" Dusk protested as she struck the insane Karl Dael in a rage. "You abandon me so you can go off to kill, maim, rape, pillage, and burn for kicks and giggles! You abandon me to become a hero!" Dusk screamed as she struck him with kicks and punches to his body. "You left me..." She said with scorn. "So I left you... Now look at me... I'm better than I ever was and I want to share it with you... I still love you Karl, I really do, and I want you to come back to us... To come back to me..."

"I would rather lose my life to save my soul, then to save my life at the price of my soul..." Karl said darkly as blood poured from his teeth and face. "To save your life at the price of your soul is the way of the coward... I refuse to turn my back on what I believe in to come back to a woman who would sell me out for thirty pieces of sliver..."

Dusk's eyes turned teal with rage and grabbed the iron chair and threw it on the floor. She kicked Karl as hard as she could and scream, "Why wont you give up?! I don't want to fucking kill you, don't you see!? Give up!"

"Never..." Karl replied harshly. "If I am evil in your eyes, you must end me."

Dusk gasped in horror at what Karl said, but soon caught herself and threw the chair back on its legs. "Fine! uh um then I'll... I'll..." She hesitated as she drew her other M-12 machine pistol and shoved it in Karl's face.

"You speak like a cocky child, but you can't muster the conviction to kill in broad daylight." Karl hissed looking dead into her fearful and unsure eyes. "I saw how you acted in the tower, you hid away in the dark and struck when my back was turned. You can't kill unless your unseen. Slay me like a solider and look me in the eyes when the pull the trigger."

The gun rattled in her hand as she struggled to grasp it in her hand. Her palms became sweaty and the gun began to gradually slip out of her grasp. She couldn't take her eyes off of him as he stared into her eyes. The look on his face was of a man who accepted his own demise, something that Karl had come to terms with years ago. Through his green eyes she could see his war, his suffering, his loss... Through his eyes she could feel the crushing pain that laid just below his calm and cold exterior. But even beyond the horror, she could see that his spirit was not broken.

"Do it..." He said in a low tone as sweat and tears began to drip from Dusk's face. "I command you..."

Dusk closed her eyes and turn her head away from him...


	11. Chapter 11: Broken Hearts

_**Getting closer and closer to the end my friends! I hope you enjoy this chapter and remember to checkout Grumpydrawer's stories and Hiddenwitch890's, They were the ones to get my started and they give me their input R&R!  
**_

_**With Love ~Dresner**_

* * *

The machine pistol fell out of Dusks sweaty hands and landed at her feet. Her hand was staking uncontrollably, as was her whole body, as she stared into Karl's eyes as he sat bound to the iron chair with blood dripping from his nose and mouth. Her knees gave way and fell onto Karl with tears of shame running down her face. Dusk placed both her hands on Karl's face and began to heal him with her own powers in hopes that Karl would forgive her. She frantically cut the belts that bound him to the chair with her en-charged hands of energy and healed his more serious wounds as well.

Through her tear filled eyes, Karl could see that Dusk despised herself more than anything. She hated everything about herself and her actions that she committed after her turning over to the hands of the man who seek to destroy the one man that she loved regardless of whatever she had done to him. But did he still feel the love that kept him going through hell and back? Did he to feel the burning passion that fueled his flame through out three years of war and conflict?

What Karl said to her was not out of hatred for her, but for what she became. The power corrupted her and her fragile and damaged soul, turning her into a cold killer. It fed her ego to the point where she began to lose her sense of humanity thus giving her, and her sisters, the ability to kill without hesitation. Dusk's heart burned with resentment towards Karl for the foul words and insults he battered her with, but Also burned with contempt for herself and the animal she became. The wounds her and her sisters caused him, the people they killed, and for what? Promises of vengeance and their deepest dreams?

Pipe dreams and angst were their fuel for their fire... A fuel that rots away like bleach to an automobile...

"What have I become..." She whispered to herself as she stood frozen in front of him. Karl said nothing and only grunted with disdain as the blood returned to his hands. Dusk turned around and walked to the table cluttered with tools and instruments of pain to gather Karl's gear. She returned with his shoulder holster rigs with his pistols and ammunition, his coat, cap, and blood soaked tunic in her shaking arms. Karl stood up from his chair and met her half way to the table. She handed him his stuff and stood in front of him with her head facing the floor in shame for what she did to him. He took his coat, cap, and rig but spared the tunic, "Keep that bloody thing away from me, It's ruined." He said with a scowl as he draped the coat over his shoulders and took out his personal nickle plated Mauser pistol. Loading a twenty round magazine into his pistol shoved the pistol into Dusk's stomach, "Look at me." He side forbiddingly as the barrel of the pistol was pushed tightly into her stomach.

Dusk refused to listen and began to sob, her tears falling onto the pistols heavy frame.

Karl's hand gently lifted her chin to eye level...

From his beaten tattooed chest she could see a scar left from Luna's Iron .50 Cal round in his shoulder as well as the Iron cross with Oak leaves and the flags over his heart. His Goat-T was unkept and wild, as was the facial hair growing without cavil over his face after days of captivity. His jackboots and trousers were splattered with blood from the daily beatings and his whole body bared the metallic smell of his own and others blood. Through her tears she could see his green eyes calmly staring down at her with a mix of pity and contempt.

"Do not weep..." He told her in a warm conversational tone, "That time as passed..."

With those words he pulled the hammer of the pistol back, the click of the hammer locking into place forced Dusk to her knees and began to sob loudly.

"Please Karl... Please..." She cried loudly as she grabbed his legs and buried her face into the blood soaked tunic that laid at his feet. "Please!"

Karl said nothing and held the pistol firmly in his hands as Dusk threw her head up with grieves of pain and torment. "Baby.. Please... Please Klokateer..." She whispered as she rapped herself around him, placing her face against his stomach.

As he held the pistol in his hand he began to have flashbacks of when Coelian ordered him to deposes of the little Dark one, Dani Phantom, just a few months before... Was this apart of Coelian's plan as well? To turn the girl he loved against him so that he will do the unthinkable?

"That time has pass..." He whispers to her...

Karl pulls the trigger...

* * *

_**Meanwhile outside of the Mill...**_

* * *

Roddy drove the dreadnaught cautiously down the war torn streets of Birmingham with the spotlights and headlights turn off to hide it's almost unwieldy appearance. Even without the mobile fire base that was its modified flatbed trailer, which Roddy opted to leave at the scrap yard, the truck itself was hand to not to notice especially to the National Guards men who had rather unpleasant encounters with it only a few nights before. Due to the plan that his new, and rather appealing, friend in black brandishing a Vintorez rifle cooked up for him. The truck was need for one last mission...

"Rodrick do you copy?" Claudia asked over the radio to a unsure Roddy Dael.

"I copy," He replied hesitantly. "Are you sure we should be using our real names on this? I mean what if those guys who attacked the farm are listing in on us?"

"Quit worrying about who's listing, You ever heard of voice recognition software?" Claudia snipped at him. "Even if you had your vocal cords swapped for another, the software still picks up on your pattern of speak. If they were worried about us then they would have had my daughter and her friends slaughter us like pigs. Just keep the truck on course I set for you and everything will be fine. Check your glove compartment, I have a present in there that might change your mind about me."

"Better not be some bomb or something!" Roddy snapped back.

Claudia grunted into the radio annoyed at the stupidity and lack of trust coming from Roddy, but she couldn't help the lack of trust on his part. She had came to terms on that a long time ago... "If I was going to kill you I would have done it in the scrap yard or when you were running away to the yard. Just open the glove box. Marlin out."

Roddy grudgingly hung up the radio and checked the glove box. Inside was his Stubby .475 BFR next to a crown royal bag full of carriages. "Damn..." Roddy says as he takes his beloved side arm and shoved it in his belt.

Claudia watched through her scope as Roddy turned the massive truck down a long street heading for the barbwire fence of the Alabama Steel Mill. She took a deep breath and leaped through the air toward the mill in hopes of finding her daughter, her friends, and Karl before Coelian grew tired of them... But a strange energy filled the air around the mill. An evil malevolent energy that seemed not only to cover the mill, but radiate from the whole city itself. The scent in the air was fowl and reeked of the bayou...

It was then that she realized that the situation itself was graver than she could ever imagine...

* * *

_**In the interrogation** **room...**_

* * *

The barrel of Karl's Mauser poured smoke from its muzzle as remaining powder burned from the shot he took. The hollow pointed 9x19mm Parabellum round raced out of the barrel with a awe inspiring thunder as the remaining powder burned caused a fire ball to bloom from the barrel of his pistol as the bullet left the barrel...

And crashed into the concert behind Dusk...

She opened her eyes as he puts away his pistol into his rig and fixes his coat. She didn't understand what had happen to her... At one moment she staring down the barrel of a gun with the eyes of death looking through to her very soul as she begging for her life, Dusk was begging for the first time in her life! Then she was staring at the same figure as the echo of the gun shot sang through the metal room around them.

Dusk let go of his wast and sat on her knees looking up at Karl with eyes full of wonder and confusion as he looked down at her with a straight face with his hands open. The year had been hard on Karl, Dusk could see it in his eyes as he gazed down at her with a conflicting glare. "Karl... You... You..." Dusk said in an innocent tone before he knelled down to her eye level.

"I spared you... Yes. Because you are not evil, you were only corrupted because they took advantage of you." Karl said as he gazed into the beauty of Dusk's eyes. "I do not hate you because they toyed with your soul, I hate what they made you... But even you know why you turned on me."

Dusk bit her tongue and tried not to say anything in embarrassment to admit that he was right, but he was... She gave a half hearten smirk and thought to herself 'He knows me to well'. She was a vengeful person, it was in her nature to do so as it was how she grew up, After all she did get it from her father. Lucky for her that was the only thing she got from the bastard besides cracked ribs and mistrust for any man that came her way, unless you count Karl and the various other one night stands she collected over the years.

"You are heart broken, rightfully so but you just don't know the whole story behind it all." Karl said with a regretful sigh as he remembered standing on that hill side as the girl's drove away in the bus that fateful day. "After the emission, I found myself with both without purpose and with it. I had gained on my journey the strength and knowledge that I could have only gathered through a lifetime. Knowledge of life, death, war, and even love... In my months in country, I served with men who in this day and age are none existent, Men of a long forgotten breed who died in the fires of pointless and bloody wars of petty rivalries and misunderstanding. Men who died because their leaders were to blind to see the evil in front of them and instead of coming together as brothers, they looked at each other as foe and then the rivers of blood began to flow. But in this world... The war... The war was different, the war had meaning, the war brought together two different people under one banner and together they fought for, not only their kinds, but for their existence on their world. They fought bravely against odds that would seem impossible to over come, facing death with a smile knowing that tomorrow could be their last day on earth, and never let the destruction, the death, or the decay corrupt them. Those men answered the call of their homeland... For pride, love, and for the Fatherland they faced the icey winds and blistering sun without a second thought... They were gods among men... Those men, and their war, became my comrades and their war was my war. In Verusea I fought with the elite of the Estovakian forces, or should I say Belkan armed forces, The Iron Guard." Karl voice became tight as he spoke of his comrades. He cared for his men and Dusk respected that as it was, more or less, the same way she cared for her sisters.

"In my time with them I earned many decorations, but it was the brotherhood and the lessons I learned that I cherished most of all. I learned that war is fought between those who wish to die and those who do not want to kill them, that war itself was both a necessity to a state and to nature. War, in their world, had no losers for there are no losers in their war. It brings glory to the victors, it edifies the character of the noble defeated. And it makes extinct what should not exist in the first place as it is in a eugenics sense. But in the wars I fought here in our world, I soon learned that War in our land has no meaning. It teaches no lessons to either the victor or the loser, it only prologues the life of those who do not deserve to exist." He explained, referring to Coelian. "One of those reptiles gave me life when I had none, or should I say Claudia gave me life while Coelian gave me a paycheck. I did things to people, entities, and beasts that I can not explain to you without going into a long digression... But what I will say is it is things that you yourself should not even dream of. After I was thrown into another pointless operation by Coelian, I began to question everything around me as I stared at the line of corpses of some of the finest men I had ever served with, that was when I saw that all around me was death. But even in the Zone, their was one unifying ideal that unified some of the spirits with in its hellish environment... Love."

The word came off his tongue softly and his tone shifted from a hard and logical older figure, to a more soft and caring tone that Dusk knew the best.

"When I was in the Zone, I met a girl that reminded me of you." Karl said hesitantly as he began to let out a painful memory. "I... fell for her out of memory of you... We didn't do anything besides share each others company and a few slight embraces, but regardless I thought that I cared for this girl... Her name was Ember..."

"You tried to move on..." Dusk whispered to him in disbelief.

"Tired, yes. But I couldn't do it." Karl admitted to her and himself. "She was you in every way. I couldn't come to terms with it in my mind. Finally I did and then she moved on to another."

"She broke your heart?" Dusk asked as she took Karl's hands and held them tightly.

"No, I broke hers." Karl said regretfully. "But she understood why."

Karl took his hands out of her hands and placed them on her shoulders. He stared deeply into her eyes as he spoke to her in a meaningful tone. "You, Muffy St. James, were the reason why I went through hell and back. You were the reason why I walked on, the reason why my spirits were up, the reason for everything I did... She only reminded me of you, but it was that thought of you that drove me to come home."

"But why didn't you come home to me!? What was keeping you away from me?" Dusk pleaded.

"The powers... The death... This..." Karl said motioning to himself to Dusk. "I was, still am, ashamed of myself for becoming this... This tool of destruction. I couldn't bare to have a burden like this placed on you... Now look at us." Karl said referring to their current situation.

Dusk took Karl by the cheeks and pressed her lips against his in a spontaneous and passionate kiss. As she pulled off of him she gave the tired solider a lustful grin and took off his cap to brush back his hair. "I wouldn't have it any other way baby. I wouldn't have any other way..." She whispered before the two in braced once more.

"Does this mean we're... You know?" Dusk asked nervously as she cussed under her breath.

"Yes baby... Yes..." Karl replied with a smile.

"AWWW! Look at the love birds!" Thorn shouted to her sister Luna as she twirled Theodor Dael's Colt .45 on her finger while they leaned on the door frame.

"Their so cute Thorn! But wait she broke her contract with Master Amsel..." Luna said as the two girls eyes turned teal as the girls started toward Dusk and Karl. "Time to fix that..."

Dusk reached into Karl's coat at the same time he did and both drew his Mauser pistols at the two as they drew near them...

A figured lunged at them from behind and shocked them with a form of energy from behind, knocking Luna and Thorn out before Karl and Dusk. Karl stood up and put away his nickel plated Mauser as he recognized the figure in front of him...

"Claudia Marlin..." Karl said with a hiss.

Claudia smirked, "Karl Dael... I see you remember me." She said as she swaggered over to Karl and Dusk.

"Back off bitch." Dusk said as she shoved the Broomhandle Mauser in Claudia's face.

"Oooh, I see she's back to normal." Claudia chuckled before pushing the gun out of her face. "Not so much for my daughter and Luna, But they will be fine soon."

"What are you doing here? I thought the order was abolished by the Doctor." Karl remarked as he took back his Uncle and Father's pistols, tucking the .45 in his belt.

"Order is gone and I was left in Siberia until my contract was reopened by the Doctor himself." Claudia said as she handed him a small note book with Amsel and Coelian's picture. "Five hundred million alive for the cripple and my freedom for the demon." She said coolly as Karl flipped through the booklet.

He threw it back to her and scoffed, "Materialism has no bounds, does it Madam Marlin? Where's my brother? I know you got him in this."

"What makes you so sure that I brought Rodrick in this?" Claudia asked Aloofly.

"It's just you in so many ways." Karl remarked as he pushed her aside and headed for the door.

"A little brutish since we last met?" Claudia asked him. "Doesn't seem like you at all. Something the matter?"

"Nothing." Karl said as he cracked his knuckles and drawing his pistol. "Where are they?"

Claudia smirked and took her VSS off of her back, "Lets find out then, all together."

"Don't get in my way witch." Dusk scowled, pushing Claudia aside.

"No problem princess." Claudia chuckled as she tripped Dusk.


	12. Chapter 12: James 4:11-12

_**Coming to the end people :) It's been fun and I'm glad your enjoying it :) **_

_**With Love ~Dresner**_

* * *

Claudia lead Karl and Dusk out of the door and into the darkness of the steel mill on the hunt for Coelian and Amsel... "I can feel Amsel's presence in the Foreman's office, but Coelian is no where. Shit!" Claudia remarked as the light of the moon illuminated their way.

"He must be wearing some of this cloth I have." Dusk remarked, referring to her tight black uniform. "It has some kind of stuff in it that blocks magical powers and aura sense."

"Fucking Ecto-ranium. Great." Karl remarked as they pressed on.

Through the shadows and derelict equipment around then, the trio sneaked from one side to another while killing guards with a mix of hand to hand and shots from Claudia's VSS. Dusk didn't trust the Witch Claudia after the events at the swamp some years back (Dawn), But she trusted Karl which allowed her to grudgingly trust Claudia. Claudia on the other hand acted rather strangely, even for her, as if she was hiding more than she knew or was letting Karl on to.

"Tell me Claudia, How did you find us?" Karl asked her as they jumped on a group of guards in the interior of mill as they busted through the main garage door to the loading dock. Karl drew his pistols and Dusk her M-12's, Akimbo love birds, and began to spray down the guards with a hail storm of 9mm bullets flew through the loading dock area.

"Simple." Claudia replied as she shot three of the guards with her rifle, a silence 'Thoop' could be heard with every pull of the trigger. "Just like I can track Thorn, I can track you. My power have no end!" She said as she switched to fully automatic and began taking well placed bursts through the crates around them.

"Tracking spell?!" Karl shouted as the guards managed to regroup and set up a RPK-12 LMG on the catwalk. Karl dove to cover with Dusk following his every move.

"You know me to well Mithras!" Claudia chuckled as she loaded another magazine into her rifle.

"Mithras?" Dusk asked him as she too topped off her machine pistols with another casket magazine.

"Nickname the spooks gave me in the zone." Karl said as he stood up from behind a collection of heavy shipping crates and fired burst from his Mauser handguns, killing two guards before ducking quickly behind the crates as the RPK-12 drew a beed on him sending a tempest of 5.45mm rounds in his direction. "Ahhhugh! Fuck this!" Karl shouted, his eyes turning teal as he put away his hand guns and charged up his hands with black sun energy.

"Oh so its like that then!" Dusk laughed as her eyes turned teal and did the same.

"Lets see what a green horn can do in the light." Karl taunted her as he looked back at the collection of Stalker guards in camouflage uniforms with their AK-12 series rifles taking cover between crates and other sources of cover. He looks back at Dusk and then at the Stalkers as he plan's his attack.

"You go left, I'll go right, Claudia center and give us covering fire! Hit the MG nest and we'll blitz these guys!" Karl shouted with Claudia nodding in approval. "Now!" Karl yelled as he and Dusk leaped over the top and charged at breath taking speed toward the stunned Stalkers. Dusk and Karl ripped through their bodies with a mixture of fists and a sword, in Dusk's case, as the advanced to the next side of the building toward the foreman's office. In the confusion of the merciless attack by the Thule charged Dusk and Karl, The RPK team retreated across the cat walk to the other side of the building where they were cut down by Claudia with her VSS.

Dusk and Karl swopped sides and began to methodical clear the surrounding floors at break neck speed with fists, knives, and machine pistols until Claudia brought up the rear with a disapproving look on her face. "You two are suppose to be looking for Amsel and Coelian, not making another massacre for the media to frenzy! What the hell's wrong with you two?!"

Karl shrugged his shoulders like a teenager, "Nothing, just having a friendly little one ups'man contest with my baby girl." Karl remarked coldly as they entered the large production area for steel beams and other steel products were cast and forged. Large buckets that use to hold molt iron still hung from their heavy duty shop cranes

"Yeah, just having a little fun thats all." Dusk remarked equally as cold and heartless.

Claudia looked over at Dusk with wide eyes and full of surprise and shock, "What did you just say?" She said as she threw her weapon on her back and got in Dusk's face.

"I believe she said she was having fun." A voice replied in a smooth southern drawl.

From a cloud of living shadows came the distinct figure of Cyrus Amsel dressed in his iconic black suit, top hat, and cane. He wore a arrogant grin on his face and lazily put his weight on his cane. "Claudia Angelica Marlin, How are you dear? It's been so long since we last drew our eyes on each other. Please tell me of you day." He remarked calmly as swaggered over to Claudia and kissed her hand.

Claudia threw a punch with her other hand, but Amsel caught it and placed it back at her side. "No no little lady," He replied. "I didn't come here to harm. Only for a few question to my equal, Mr. Karl Dael here."

Amsel turned to Karl, his voice sounding rather respectful and dignified. It was strange to hear such a tone from this man especially after their first encounter in the swamps of Louisiana three years ago.

"Karl, my brother, How are you enjoying the powers I bestowed upon you?" Amsel inquired.

Karl rose his eye brow at the lavishly dressed demon as he stood in front of him with cane and top hat. "Powers you bestowed? No no no, Herr Amsel, I gained these powers of mine from a fallen comrade." Karl replied in a gentlemanly fashion.

Dusk looked at him strangely as his tone shifted from war like to that of a gentleman. It was strange for her, but she let him speak on with the demon.

"Ah yea, Benny boy fell in action I see. Was it by you?" Amsel asked him in a genuinely caring tone.

"No..." Karl said in a mournful tone. "I would much rather not discuss."

"I see," Amsel replied with a frown as he took off his top hat and gave a bow. "My condolences, Colonel Dael. My heart also goes to your brave men in uniform you served you as well. But I digress from my previous statement." He said as he returned the top hat to his head.  
"By the powers I have bestowed upon you, I mean the Black Sun energy that lay within your heart from the medallion that you picked off of dear old departed Benny boy. A medallion that I personally forged from my own flame to give to Ben to give to you when you were ready."

Karl looked at him like a madman, "Give to me? Ha! What do you take me for? A fool?"

"At one time, Yes." Amsel replied honestly with a blank face. "But not now as you are reborn as a brother, and savior, of one of the youngest branches of the Thule family tree, The Belkans of Verusea. You see Karl, I am not this malevolent spirit that you think I am. I am more of a mischievous spirit in some aspects."

"Mischievous!?" Claudia and Dusk exploded. "You lash me and my sisters in chains, brainwash us twice, and open a fucking door to hell?!" Dusk screamed as she pointed her M12 machine pistol at his head.

"It wasn't to hell." Karl corrected her. "It was to the Summerland, the pagan version of heaven. A beautiful plain of roaming fields and mountains, the utopia of the nature lover."

"Indeed. If I was this spirit, then why would I open the door to a Utopia?" Amsel asked her. Dusk studded and finally shut her mouth to let Amsel finish. "Exactly. Because this is a lie. But, once again, I digress. When my medalian took hold with in you, you became half Thule just as Benny boy was. Just like I planed..."

"I've had enough of this shit!" Claudia shouted as she took her VSS off of her back and shoved it in Amsel's face.

"I agree." Amsel said as he snapped his fingers and freezing reality around him and Karl. He takes his finger and points the barrel of the rifle to the ground and turns to Karl. "Now where was I?" He asks, losing his train of thought.

"This plan you speak off..." Karl asked as he began to put some thought into what Amsel was speaking about.

"Ahh yes! Thank you my boy!" Amsel replied with vigor. "My plan was simple, began the butterfly effect with contacting Madam Marlin."

"Contacting?" Karl snorted. "Ripping and abusing a woman to the point of insanity maybe your form of contacting then I would hate to be on your bad side."

"Well..." Amsel said, shrugging his shoulders. "I can not say that I am not a little rough in contacting a indirect woman like herself. But neither can I say that she was the civil type either."

"Amen." Karl replied.

"Indeed. But simple, I only wished to contact a soul that would wish to help me in my quest." Amsel told him as he twirled his cane.

"That being?" Karl asked as he put away his pistol.

"Being that I could find a soul that could take my power and use it for the common good of the people and restore order once and for all to the region of my birth." Amsel told him before Karl interrupted with "Your from Germany, I've read your file."

"No... I'm Thule... One of the originals from the land of Holy Belka." Amsel protested, But Karl didn't take his tone lightly.

"Enough!" Karl exclaimed as he drew his mauser pistol and aimed at Amsel.

"Ease my boy... Ease." Amsel whispered as Karl replied by cocking the Hammer back on his pistol.

"I am Thule, Karl, Full blooded Thule." Amsel said as he put the end of his cane on the ground. "I came to this land as a lost young man of 13 in the year 1939 in my world to this land in the year of 1844. From their I began my journey to the manor home where a descendent of mine

made his home in new england, but refused to help on the grounds of that I was only a foolish boy. I then traveled to the swamps to see Erich... But he was to far gone as the power of the black sun damned his wicked mind. The power shows justice that way in rewarding the good nature with holiness and the evil with damnation."

"Then why is it that your not mad with power as your decedent was?" Karl demanded from him.

"Simple... Because I am not evil, I only did what was necessary." Amsel replied coolly.

"Necessary?! Was it necessary to take the souls of those soldiers to open a gate to the spirit world? Was it necessary to brainwash my girls? Was it necessary to kill those kids? Was it necessary to help that pig in the chair in his demented question of self destruction?" Karl shouted in anger.

"Just as you did the right thing for the wrong reasons, I did what was WRONG for the RIGHT Reasons!" Amsel replied with religious passion. "In order to end the bloodiest war in the history of my homeland and prevent the killing and dying from going any further, I had to be the evil that drove you to take up my cause as I had not the power to do so... I was to young back then..."

Amsel drew closer to Karl and placed his hand on his shoulder, the barrel of the pistol pressing tightly against his forehead. "I had to do it... In order to end the killing, the dying, the maiming. and the horror around me caused by the ignorance and greed of man, I had to burn my pinch of in scents at the alter of the horror and begin my plan with flap of a butterflies wings... The only way to end the war, to end the horror, was to make a hero that could bring an end to that pointless war through the power of the Black sun..."

"You... You... You..." Karl studded as he tried comprehend what Amsel was trying to tell him.

"I made you... I made the chain of events that made you who you are Carlus." Amsel replied. "You did the work I longed to do for decades... You brought peace to my home..."

"Why me? Of all people... Why me?" Karl asked, short of breath as his gun began to shake in his cold hand.

"When I was a boy in the town of Hoffnung on the west end of the Tula river, The Oseanian bombers burned my faithful city to ashes in the middle of the night while we slept... The firestorm calmed my family on the faithful Christmas eve in 1939, but I managed to escape as a kind man saved me from my home as they tried to put out the infernos that engulfed the city. The man was tall and dark haired like yourself, brave and caring. He only went by the name of "Dael" and nothing else... It was from that night on that I pledged to find this "Dael" and it took me on a journey to your world to find this man, as he seemed to be the only one to me that could have ended the war..."

"You... You... Planned it all..." Karl gasped as he came to the realization that his whole life before finding those boots was all a plan by a confused man wanting to end the suffering of his people. Karl drops his gun and stands in front of him with his mouth drooped open as he tried to process everything.

"The game was ridged from the start, but you sir were the captain of the ship. It was you who made the decision to take me on, you who decided to travel with Ben, you who decided to fight, you who saved your girls more than once, and it was you who spared her when she turned her back on you." Amsel explained to him as he picked up Karl's gun. "It was a test to see if you were the "Dael" I knew in 1939..."

Amsel turned the gun around and hands it to Karl grip first. "And you passed your final exam, but you have one last assignment before my lesson is over. But first I must do what is need..." He snaps his fingers and a portal reveals a knocked out Luna and Thorn. With in a seconds notice, the relics of the black sun with in them soon lifted from their hearts and burned in a fury of blue flame. The same happened to Dusk as she stood frozen in time with Claudia.

"Consider that a token of good favor for being a student of justice." He remarked as he handed Karl his gun. "You've grown a lot of the years Karl. You've modeled into a fine man, and even made some friends along the way as well. A decorated Colonel, a legend among the Belkan people, a terror among the malevolent spirits of the Zone, and you have a musician under your thumb... My god sir, Your Father would be proud of you."

Karl took his gun from Amsel and placed it in my holster, "Thank you Cyrus." Karl said with disdain that he was thanking a once hated enemy.

"Polish off Coelian and then we can start with the kind words, my brother." Cyrus told him with a smile as he stood beside him as he released his grip on the time stream.

Dusk feel to the floor windless as Claudia looked around in confusion. "What?!" She shouted in rage as she looked for Amsel.

"Claudia," Karl spoke to her in a mixed tone. "Take care of Dusk."

"What happen... You!" She screamed as she pointed her gun at Amsel in a blood rage.

"He removed the power from her and her sisters and I will explain later!" Karl shouted harshly at her, which startled her immensely. "Drop your gun and take care of her before I have to take another life!"

Claudia looked at the both of them with confusion until she saw Karl reach for his sidearm, "You better have a good reason for this..."

Karl gave her a cocky smile, "You know I always do."

Claudia turned to aid Dusk leaving Karl and Amsel side by side. "Where is he?" he asked, cutting to the point.

"Top of Blast Furnace one awaiting a whirley gig to whisk him away to a mansion in the oh so grand city of New york, New York!" He said with a chuckle. "Oh how interesting it is to see reptiles like that always go to the center of American financial power for refuge, isn't Karl?"

Karl reached into his coat and took out a park of smokes and offered one to Amsel, "One for the road comrade Amsel?" He asked in a friendly tone as Amsel took one and lit it with his powers. "It's been over a century since my last taste of the demon weed." He said as he took a long puff from the cigarette.

"It's a curse just like my morality." Karl remarked in a melancholy tone as he referred to his unceasing good nature that lead him on his journey.

"Not necessary my dear boy," Amsel replied. "Morality, just like tobacco, are commodities that are in very short supple in this day and age. You are just lucky enough to have a access to a endless supple of both!" He said with a chuckle.

Karl rolled his eyes and snorted, "If that makes me a hero then I don't know what does. But regardless it doesn't matter to me, I would rather die doing the right thing than live doing the latter."

"But that dear boy should not matter in the slightest of matters." Amsel assured him.

"Why is that?" Karl asked him.

"That I have not the slightest of ideas." Amsel replied with a smirk.

"Get out of here before I begin to think about killing you." Karl told him in a serious tone as he finishes his smoke.

Amsel gave a wicked smile before the lower half of his body dissipated into shadows, "Till we meet again Karl Dael." He says as he fades into the darkness and into the unknown.

Karl turns his back to Claudia and Dusk, "Claudia, Take care of Dusk and get the others as well. Get them out of hear."

Claudia looks over to Karl as she picks up Dusk, "Where are you going?! Where's Amsel?!"

"He's gone." Karl remarks as he begins to walk forward into the darkness of the Mill.

"Karl! Where are you going?!" She protests once more.

"Going to end this nightmare." He replies as he walks into the shadows.


	13. Chapter 13: Going Under

_**The final Chapter and then the Epilogue. Thank you all for reading my work and Remember to Favorite, if you like it, and Review if you wish. Thank you all for your viewership :)**_

_**With Love ~Dresner.**_

* * *

From ground Karl could see the outline of a Mil Mi-24 Superhind in the mood light as it hovered beside the top tower of Blast Furnace one. His aura senses only saw a collection of figures in a circle walking toward the Hind, a sign that a high priority target was being escorted.

"Coelian..." Karl grunted as the wind tossed leaves and trash across the ground. Karl draws both his Mauser pistols and cocks both hammers back in readiness for the coming battle, the last battle... The last war...

Leaping into the air at high speed, Karl landed on the platform to be greeted with the barrels of five AK assault rifles and awaiting Alexander Coelain.

"I see Amsel has turned his back on me, Yes?" Coelian asked him with the finger pyramid of evil contemplation.

Karl pointed his pistols at Alexander directly, "What do you think?"

"The girls? Did you crush them?" Coelian guffawed. "Of course you did! Why would they be a problem to you? After all you did my bidding with no trouble at all, just look at Vortex, Nocturne, and Pariah! haha!"

Karl grunted angrily and tightened his grip on his pistols, "My language maybe that of the fist and boot, But I don't kill women." Karl replied as Alexander with a snicker.

"Valeria Grey says otherwise, Or did you pull her out of the river just like you did with your weak body?" Coelian snapped back.

"She wasn't worth the the time for her father to create her, not a cold heart girl like her. I did her a favor." Karl replied coldly, "But at least I'm not in a chair."

Coelian gave Karl a death glare and shouted in Russian for his Stalkers to open fire at once...

But Karl was quick on the trigger... He placed his index finger on the frame of his automatic Mauser pistols and tilted them to the side like a bandit. Using his middle finger to pull the trigger for better control of the pistols, Karl unleashed a hail of effective automatic fire from his pistols in that of "Bandit shooting", A technique first used by Chinese bandits in China during the Chinese civil war with the use of the Type 17 Mauser pistol. Using the recoil of the gun to move itself, Karl swept away the enemy combatants with in seconds of emptying the twenty round magazines. The corpses of the five men fell to the ground with a harsh thud, leaving only Coelian and Karl left to settle their business with one another.

Karl releases the magazines from his pistols and lets them drop on the floor of the tower, "I'm out of bullets." He replies dreadfully as he puts away his prized Mausers back into his shoulder rigging. "A shame, I wanted to kill you with dignity. Now I'm going to half to finish you by hand..."

"Not quite." Coelian remarked as the monolithic figure of Chernov appeared behind Karl with massive steel like fists with razor sharp talons douched in green energy, The Ghost Gauntlets. Chernov punched through Karl's back and through his chest, then out the back clutching the black sun medallion that gave him his power. The pain rocked Karl's entire body as every muscle and bone in his body screamed in agony, as if the mammoth Russian had torn out his heart along with his powers. He fell to the ground and grasped at his chest to feel the chest wound, but it wasn't there... The gauntlets phased right through him like a ghost and swept away his energy. Not only were his powers gone, but his energy, his natural energy, was gone as if it was also drained from him. All the running, fighting, and stress from the last few months hit him at once and fatigued him in the matter of seconds.

The Russian soon gave a devastating kick to Karl's stomach with his steel toed Doc martins and chuckled with glee as he walked back to Coelian. "Thank you Chernov for taking back what is rightfully mine. With this I can make millions, restore my body to working order, or At least I can make another toy from this..." Coelian remarked as Chernov and him boarded the Superhind.

"I wish you well Karl! Maybe we will see each other at the gates of hell!" Coelian and Chernov cackled as they step foot on in the fighting bay of the large helicopter.

"_Never... Your not escaping me..."_ Karl hissed to himself as he began to pick up his worn and fatigued body off the ground. Remembering his father's Colt pistol in his waste, he drew the pistol and aimed for Chernov's head. With three well placed shots, The mighty bear fell from the fighting bay and down to the ground like a sack of hammers.

Karl threw himself to his feet and sprinted like a demon out of the fires of hell to the fighting bay door as the chopper began to depart from the Tower. Karl leaps into the air just as the chopper departs and clings to the door with both hands, still clutching the colt in his hand as he threw himself into the compartment. Where Coelian sat in his chair starring at the medallion with the look of a selfish child, running his hands against it and clutching it in his hands with care.

"YOU! YOUR STILL ALIVE?!" Coelian screamed in disapproval as Karl got back on to his feet and pointed the pistol at Coelian.

"You... Better... FUCKING BELIEVE IT!" Karl shouted in a weary voice as he grew tired from the strain put on his body.

"It doesn't matter now!" Coelian yelled as he clutched the relic in his hand. "I have it now and their is nothing that you can..."

Karl shoots the relic from Coelian's hand, causing it to bounce on the floor and land between them. Coelian dives from his wheel chair and scurries across the floor like a rat to reach the relic, But Karl steps on his hand and fires two rounds into his shoulders. Coelian screams in agony as the bullets crippled his limps and Karl's heavy boots crushed what remained of the feeling in his hand as it laid on top of the relic.

"Your a monster! Your not going to live to see another fucking sunset if you kill me, You worthless hick!" Coelian yelled as his blood oozed out and on to the floor. "I'll have every mercenary in Gigagen hunting for you, your family, your friends, and your whore girlfriend if it takes all the money that... That insane doctor has spent on his little projects if it takes!"

"I don't care!" Karl shouts as he turns and shoots the pilot with two shots from the colt.

The chopper began to lose control of itself and began to spin violently in the air like a top as the rotation of the blades began to take control. Karl propped himself up against the metal walls of the fighting compartment as Coelian struggled to hold on with whatever feeling in his body had left. Coelian looked to Karl and began to scream and howl violently in fear, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!? YOU GOING TO KILL US BOTH YOU FOOL!"

"At least you'll have an escort to hell!" Karl shouted as he fired the last bullet from his gun into Coelian's skull, killing him instantly as the Chopper crashed through the roof of a near by warehouse...

* * *

Dusk, Claudia, Thorn, Luna, And Roddy watched in horror as the helicopter crashed through the roof of a warehouse close to the mill. The girls were alright, just a little disoriented and confused from what happen to them until Roddy and Claudia explained to them what had happen. Thorn and Claudia made up once again rather quickly as the memories of meeting her in Tranquil Heights began to come back to her, as did it to Dusk and Luna.

The group piled into the Dreadnaught and drove as quickly as they could to the site of the downed chopper, Breaking down the garage door to the warehouse with the truck itself as they dashed to aid Karl or to see if he was alive.

Dusk was the first to leap out of the cab, along with Roddy, to race to the crash where a battered, tailless, hulk of the Superhind laid on its side. The two panicked and climbed onto its side to bust open the doors, but Claudia soon intervened with her magic and broke the doors off of the hull. They jumped on to the hull once more and soon began to cheer with jubilation as Karl managed to pull himself out of hull of the aircraft.

Karl lived...

Though he was heavily injured from the crash, his spirits were still high. Ever more since he killed Coelian and ended his life once and for all.

"Baby!" Dusk shouted with glee as she rapped her armed around Karl and kissed him until her black and green lipstick covered his face. Thorn and Luna soon embraced Karl as well and squealed with joy to see him alive. His brother hugged him with tears in his eyes as he feared the worse for his brother, "I'm sorry." Roddy whispers into his ear.

"It's fine dear brother... Fuck!" Karl says before shouting in pain from his injuries. "Bastard took my powers away... Ripped my shit from me like a bag of crackers at kindergarten. FUCK!" He shouts, grabbing his ribs and side.

"You need to get to a doc fast!" Roddy shouts until Claudia pushes him aside and casts a healing spell on Karl.

"Give it about a day and you'll be fine." Claudia says coldly as the girls and Roddy let go of him at Claudia's command. "You got him didn't you?" She asks him, everyone knowing that she spoke of Coelian.

"Made him suffer..." Karl remarked as he handed her the empty Colt.

"The hole magazine?" She asked in surprise.

"Nah, Two to the collar bone and one to the brain to finish him." Karl remarked as Claudia smirked with approval before turning her back to them and motioning for them to go to the truck.

"Lets move, Those beasts you call people will be here to scavenge anything they can before the National Guard comes to scope the place out." Claudia remarked coldly as she open the door to the truck and stepped in. Dusk and Roddy took Karl around their shoulders and carried him to the truck with Thorn and Luna close behind.

As they entered the truck and departed from the warehouse, Karl laid down on a small bench inside the sleeper cab of the Dreadnaught as the truck drove down the patch work streets of the magic city. His head laid propped on Dusk's lap as she removed his cap to run her hand through his thick brown hair to ease his nerves. His coat was removed, as was his shoulder rigging, and laid comfortably on the firm bench. Though it was not an ideal place to rest, but right now it did not matter to Karl. Being in the tender care of his gal meant the world to him, no matter where they were.

He stared into her eyes with a smile as he began to drift off into dreamland, The loving expression of Dusk as he began going under the spell of sleep.

It was all over now... And now he could rest in peace knowing that his journey was now over...

* * *

_**That night...**_

_**Channel 4 WKRB: The Birmingham Riots are now over as men and women of the US National Guard have brought peace to the once unruly city. The total cost in human and economic lives are immeasurable. With the Death of Governor Bentley Just weeks before hand, The magic city of Birmingham now has hope of a better tomorrow. It's over now... The sacrifice is done. But are we sure that this Phoenix will rise again? We will find out soon...  
**_

_**(Scenes of a once proud metropolis with a jagged **__**silhouettes of the crumbling in dusty that made the city of Birmingham famous crumbling in the distance. Scenes of frighten people walking across the war torn streets pan across the screen until it all fads to black.) **_


	14. Chapter 14: Epologue

_**It's been fun my friends, This is the Last Karl centered fic and Last one for the Hex girls for me. Thank you for the viewership :)**_

_**For a good ending song to this story listen to STALKER - 2000 БАКСОВ (Stalker- 2000 Bucks). It's a great ending song for this story as it gives a happy wanderer tune in my view to this story. R&R**_

_**With Love ~Dresner**_

* * *

_**Seven Weeks Later...**_

* * *

Karl rolled out of the large queen sized bed early on Saturday morning and put on his blue jeans and boots before walking outside onto the balcony of the Crystal Cove home of the Hex girls for his morning smoke break. He looks back to see a snoozing Dusk laying bare with only a think sheet covering her pale body and a smirk on her face as she laid curled up in a ball. Karl kisses her on the lips before walking toward the sliding glass door. For weeks he had waited for this day ever since Claudia told him of the news only seven weeks ago after his speedy recovery, as well as the end of riot and the return of the National Guard to their bases, the disbanding of the Mercenaries, and the return of order to the city of Birmingham or at least some form of it.

But Karl did not care one bit...

His hometown was nothing to him anymore, It did not hold anything for him to be proud of as it was either turned against him or burned to cinders by the fires of angry protesters and gang members. His home was destroyed, his comrades dead and residing in Valhalla, and his powers nothing more than a faded memory just like that of his remaining innocence.

Everything, just it was when he left the city all those years ago, was gone...

But unlike the last time he departed from the magic city before, He had a home, a family, and a loving girl to come home to...

With his brother and Dusk at his side, Karl traveled with them back to their new home in Crystal Cove... To a Life where he could rest his head and hang his hat in peace without the fear of being shot to pieces by soldiers or gangsters or turn to a puddle of goo by a ghoul or ghost.

Karl picks up his black Brimstone M43 and walks outside into the cool morning air, just as the sun began to break from behind the hills and mountains behind the house in the distance. The darkness of the sky began to fade as the light of the Dawn sky began to break the grip of the endless night once more. For the first time in years Karl was happy to see the dawn light, as it use to be the sign of another long day of battle for him on any scale. But now it proved to be welcoming sight to him...

He looks over the balcony from the hillside home to see the city of Crystal Cove, "The most happiest place in the world" apparently, as the sleepy town began to awaken before him. Karl leans on the railing as he blows smoke into the air and curses as he realizes that this was his last cigarette.

"A little smoke before dawn baby?" Dusk asked him in a sleepy tone as she buttons his black flannel half way to cover her breasts. She only wore his flannel and panties as she stepped outside to see him.

"Eh yeah, but it's my last for the day." Karl said as he took a long puff off of his cigarette.

"You know you don't have to quit for me Klokatier." She says sweatily as she raps herself around his waste. "I think it's sexy when you smoke, It's manly and just makes you even more irresistible."

"Hehe, be glad I'm not a pack a day smoker." He replies as he finishes his smoke and throws the bud over the railing as the sun broke over the house.

"Yeah... But either way, I'm glad your finally home with me..." Dusk says as she looks up at him with a gleeful and sleepy grin, but her tone soon shifts over to that of concern. "Are you... Are you going to stay?" She asks with a cute tone.

Karl smiles and kisses her on the lips, "No where else to go but home."

With those words, The two knew that this was permanent. Karl found what he dreamed of the most in life, a home of his own.

"Roddy still downstairs?" Karl asks as they walk back into their bedroom.

"I think so." Dusk said as she put on a pair of light colored blue jeans and brushed her hair. "Luna wasn't to happy to see him laying in her bed drunk again, After all I mean what would Shaggy think if the gang came over again? She's still crushing on him, you know?"

Karl chuckled as he went for the shower, "Roddy likes girls like Luna, Ain't my job to keep that Horn dog down. At least he isn't going after Thorn or Claudia."

"Where is Claudia?" Dusk asked as she applied her make up in the light of the sun and lap light.

"Damn ghost, that's what happen to her." Karl replied as he turned on the shower and began to strip in the bathroom. "She disappeared again, but she says she'll visit us soon when she gets back from whatever the hell shes doing. But all I know is, I hope she wasn't screwing with me on who's coming to the train station."

"Baby, If that witch was right about all the other shit and set you up with that 150K then she telling the truth." Dusk replied as she put on a green tank top under the flannel shirt and slipped on her boots.

"When were you the one to trust people?" Karl asked her sarcastically with a chuckle. Dusk rolled her eyes and walked to the bathroom where she flushed the tollet as Karl showered.

"Aw you bitch! You sexy mean bitch!" Karl chuckled as the hot water scolded him.

* * *

A few hours pasted and soon the girls and the brothers ate breakfast together before departing to do whatever they wished to do that day. Thorn went out to meet James down at the docks to spend sometime together, Luna went to talk with Ms. Dinkley at the local book story as well as see Shaggy again, While Karl, Dusk, and Roddy hopped into Dusk's Green AMG Mercedes Benz and headed for the Train station.

As the trio arrived at the station, A long sleek and sliver Sunset Limited Amtrak train slowed into the station as it came from Florida to off load some passengers before making its final stop in LA just a few hours away. It pulled into the station and came to a calm stop where a crowed of people came pouring out of the cars to visit the city of Crystal Cove, But the Trio only stood patiently with a hand made sign that read "Shela Dael" above their heads.

One of the last passengers to depart from train was a girl of only five feet tall wearing high heeled dress boots, Black skinny jeans, Blue zip up hoodie, lip piercing, and a hipster beanie half way on her head that barley covered her black and blond streaked hair. With her heels it made her at least Dusk's height, but only slightly taller. She looked confused and a little tired from her journey, just like Karl was. Dusk then smirked as she saw her smoking with her right hand and using the same brand of Marlboro blacks that Karl use to smoke.

Karl and Roddy soon rushed over to the girl and picked her up and began to embrace her screaming, "SHELA!" With gleeful voices until the girl began to weep uncontrollably.

The Dael siblings were back together once again, Thus bringing an end to their years of separation and toil...

"Y'all will never believe the shit I've been through!" Shela says as she cries tears of Joy.

Karl and Roddy only smirk, especially Karl, as they walk to the Car with Dusk as they began to tell Shela of their wonders years apart from each other.

_**The End.**_


End file.
